From Bad to Worse
by StrangeTales117
Summary: James awakens in a world not his own without any memory of where he came from. As he tries to find help, and perhaps a clue to who he once was or even a way back home, his struggle in this world becomes more desperate as tensions with the folk that live there escalate and unseen forces begin to set an unstoppable plan in motion...A plan James finds himself a part of.
1. Chapter 1

When he awoke, he had no idea where he was.

He sat up. Immediately he was checking his body; two long, thin legs, two gangly arms, eight bony fingers and two thumbs, two squishy, barely-focused eyes.

His first thought: '_Good to know I'm still intact'._

Thoughts drifted through his mind. He was having the strangest dream. _'Like falling', _he thought.

Another thought entered his mind; a name. _James._

'_That must be my name. James. I am James.'_

James lifted his gaze to the new environment around him. He had woken up in the middle of a forest. Trees surrounded him on all sides. He could hear birds, and squirrels, and the buzzing of insects. It was warm out, so he assumed it must be somewhere in the spring or summer months, but beyond that, he couldn't figure out how to gauge what the date was. Or how long he had been asleep, for that matter.

James racked his brain trying to remember, but found no memories; only questions. Where was he? Why was he here? Did he just come here to nap? He took a closer look at the forest scene. Most forests that he could recall had bugs, like mosquitoes and gnats, things that harried people and annoyed them and made them itch. No such bugs here. The air smelled sweet and felt heavy. The sun shined through the trees, creating a shifting mosaic of greens and blacks. All in all, it seemed way too perfect.

Then he saw something weird land on a nearby bush. Of this much he was certain; it definitely was not from any forest he could recall. The creature was tiny, and seemingly harmless, but James dare not go any further for fear he could be wrong. Upon closer inspection, James rationalized that the creature was some sort of insect. But, for reasons unknown to him, he somehow knew it wasn't a bug he'd ever seen before.

It was a small, round creature, with four, dragonfly-like wings. It had a pair of bulbous eyes that seemed to take up half, if not three quarters, of its 'face'. It had four spindly legs rather than six. It seemed almost… cute. The creature buzzed around the bush and landed on a leaf facing him, and James swore he could see it smile at him. He turned away from the strange creature as it buzzed off and disappeared into the trees.

James decided to walk around for a moment to see if he could find something familiar about the place, like a road or building. His first steps were shaky, and he had to reestablish his balance every so often. Nonetheless, for some reason he had it in his head that staying in one place for too long couldn't just be a mistake; it could be dangerous. James wandered around for a few minutes, but saw nothing but trees and rocks. Frustrated, he let out a grunt and sat down next to a nearby oak.

James lifted his gaze to the sky, and then realized something. _'The sun', _he thought. _'I need to find a better view.'_

James got to his feet, turned, and began to climb the tree he had sat up against. For some reason, the handholds came naturally to him. As he poked his head over the top of the tree, he could see the rest of the forest. An ever-changing sea of various green hues, and above it a sheet of blue. James couldn't remember a sky so clear, but then again, he couldn't remember anything about where he came from at the moment.

Looking around, James eventually found something of interest; what appeared to be a dirt road or footpath, roughly a mile north from where he was. This was good news, as it meant that there were other people and civilizations nearby. James slid to a lower branch and leapt from his perch, landing on his feet a few feet away.

James had no memory of where he came from, nor did he have any idea as to where he was going. But as he strode away towards where he saw the dirt path, he made a silent vow that he would find out.

By the time James had reached the road, his thoughts that the path was not natural were confirmed. The dirt here was coarse, a fine texture with very little debris like stones or growing weeds. There were no potholes or signs of disrepair, and the road remained roughly four feet wide at all times, indicating that it was not only man-made, but well maintained too. James scanned the ground to find any sign of marks or tracks, perhaps one made by a shoe or tire. Eventually, he found a set of tracks made by some kind of animal. James knelt down to get a closer look.

The tracks were made by a hoof, a large crescent shape, like a letter U. "Horse," James muttered to himself. "No signs of a carriage, but also not random, ruling out the possibility of this horse being wild. Probably a mount."

James made a sound of frustration. "Great. That's great. I can recognize horse tracks, I know how to climb a tree and get a proper lay of the land, but I don't know where I am or where I came from. Awesome! Good to see my memory is as _sterling _as ever!"

James began to stalk down the road in the direction the tracks were leading. The tracks weren't far apart, meaning that the rider felt no need to hurry. James took this to mean that civilization was not far in the direction the tracks were going, and the closer he got to a town, the closer he could get to people who could—who _would_—give him answers.

* * *

><p>After a few hours of walking down a barren dirt road with the sun beating down on him and the forest on either side, James was sweaty, tired, and most of all, hungry. As luck would have it, however, a town had come into view in the distance. It was a relatively large town, but clearly rural, with no particularly large buildings or landmarks to speak of aside from a tower-like structure that James assumed was either a town hall or a bastion. It was also cut through by a small river, with several small cobblestone bridges closing the gap; James took note of this before shifting his gaze elsewhere. To his right was a cluster of small tents, and to his left were small cottages lining a seemingly vacant street, and beyond that another bridge leading to a forest of trees with what appeared to be apples. James's stomach growled at the thought of fresh food, and he decided that the trees would be his first stop.<p>

As James began to walk towards the trees, his common sense overpowered his hunger. "I'm a stranger in a strange land as far as I know," He muttered to himself, "So it probably wouldn't be best to just walk up in plain view and take a bundle of fruit. Better to move unseen in case I'm not so welcome."

James was considering his options when a peculiar sight trotted into view; a horse. The horse had no rider, which was odd considering that it was running freely from its stable. But the fact that hit James the most was that the horse was _speaking. _Or, at least, it sounded like it was speaking, talking to itself in the same way that James did when he was alone. An indistinguishable mark was on its flank, too far away for James to make it out. Another horse, this one a mint-green color, seemed to holler "Wait up!" as it trotted up beside the first.

James suddenly realized that he was standing in the open like an idiot, and turned to bolt for the nearby trees. It wasn't fast enough; a startled noise from behind him told that he had been spotted. James dove into the bushes and sat still, refusing even to breathe. All the while he could hear the approach of the two horses, as well as their nervous, jittery whispers.

Finally, one of them reluctantly spoke up; "H-Hellooo?"

When James didn't reply, the other called out, "It's okay! We're not going to hurt you!"

'_I'll bet', _James thought.

When he heard one of the horses lean in to inspect the bush he was hiding in, James's mind ran through the possibilities; running would be his best bet, as scaring them off would attract too much attention and he didn't need nor want to see anyone hurt. Suddenly, a rustle nearby startled both parties, causing the horse to back off. James suppressed a sigh of relief.

"A chipmunk," one of the horses said.

"Come on, Bon Bon, you need to be on time for work."

"Right," 'Bon Bon' replied, and as James heard the two leave, he could faintly hear her say "What do you think that thing was?"

After a few minutes of silence, James cautiously shifted aside a few leaves and peered from his hiding spot. By the time he had decided to look, the previously-deserted streets had a fair amount of other horses, ones of every different size, shape and color. James could even make out a few things that were unnoticeable before; some of them had wings, while others had a single horn protruding from their foreheads. Most importantly, every single one of them sported some kind of tattoo on their flank; a sowing needle here, an apple there, and so forth. There wasn't a single human being in sight.

And then it dawned on him. There were no human citizens because he was _looking at the citizens._

_This town, this land, perhaps this entire planet was run by horses._

Only one thought echoed in his head as James gazed in confusion at the town, as he fled deeper into the surrounding forest, as he stopped by a tree to catch his breath.

'_This isn't home.'_


	2. Chapter 2

James had moved deeply into the forest after his encounter with the two horse-people a few minutes ago. In fact, he had gone so far into the forest that he had become lost. James's eyes darted around, and began to piece together a good reason as to why this place was worse than the town's borders. The surrounding forest had a different look than the previous environment; it looked almost…_diseased._

The trees here had grown gnarled and blackened, more befitting of a swamp than a wood. Whatever flowers that grew here were thorny, vibrantly coloured, or just looked threatening. For the most part, however, the only plants that grew were thistles, ivy, mushrooms, weeds and tall grass. But most importantly was how _dark _it was; the canopy of the trees was so thick that, even at roughly midday, they closed off the sky and shut out the sunlight. Where the woods where James first awoke filled him with a drowsy, blissful feeling, this forest gave him a sense of foreboding and paranoia, which did not help in the slightest as it worsened the feeling of paranoia that James already had.

Something rustled in the tall grass a few feet away. Immediately, James's muscles tensed. His heart began to hammer with excitement as adrenaline and endorphins began to pump into his blood. The rustling seemed to drag across the grass like a snake, until finally coming to a stop right in front of James. The grass parted and out poked…a chicken.

James was about to relax, but immediately tensed again when the grass around the chicken began to rustle again, with a horrible dragging sound. The chicken locked eyes with James, and a strange effect overcame him; his muscles began to literally lock up, his movements becoming sluggish as his legs were rendered immobile. With all of the strength he could muster, James forced his head to look away, breaking eye contact with the thing and furthermore breaking the effect it had on his body.

James was able to move again, and had only a split second to dive aside as the monster-chicken made a fierce lunge for him. Grasping around for a weapon, his hand clasped around a heavy object and brought a thick oaken branch up in a clumsy arc, striking the beast full-on in the side of the head. As the creature reeled from the attack, James took his chance to sprint away from it; he hadn't the resources or training to take on a monster like this, let alone blind, and he needed to prioritize his survival until he could find a way home (wherever 'home' was). And so he ran for all his worth, eventually leaving the creature- and the black forest -behind.

Yet again, James found himself in the open, only this time he stood in a field. A small footpath led up to a small cottage that appeared to have been built into a hill, or from a hill, or something along those lines. Looking around and seeing nobody nearby, James decided to approach the house to ask for help. As he neared the cottage, he noticed the door slowly open. Another winged horse stepped outside to enjoy the day. This one had a simple but still weird coloration of pastel pink and yellow, and its huge eyes slowly drifted around the view of the nearby town as it sat facing away from James.

As it would be pretty stupid to startle the pony by sneaking up on her, James thought it better to announce his presence. What he didn't factor in was the fact that he had a rough 3 feet over her, was covered in dirt and sweat, brandishing a hulking club and with a general threatening look to him, not to mention the fact that she's probably never seen a creature like him before.

"Uh…Hello?" James called.

The pony perked up at the sound of the creature behind him, and she turned to face him. Her expression changed from curiosity to shock, and she froze like a deer in the headlights of a car.

"Uh, hey," James continued, lifting the club in a gesture of greeting. "Look, I'd like to know where I am, and—"

Without a word, the pony darted into her house, slamming the door behind her.

"Hey, wait a second!" James called after her, slightly quickening his pace. "Just—Wait—Hold on! I'm trying to ask for HELP, goddamn—"

James reeled in his irritation, noting that he didn't need to frighten the horse any further. Placing the branch at the end of her lawn, James raised his arms and slowly approached the door. When no response came, James lightly tapped on the door.

"Hello. Please come out, I'm not here to hurt you, I just want some help," James stated flatly.

No answer.

"Hello? Telegram...Special Delivery?" James tried to relieve the situation by making small jokes, but the horse didn't seem to have much of a sense of humor. James peered into a nearby window and saw the pony hiding under a mound of bedsheets, its furry little hooves sticking out.

"You realize I can see you…right?" James asked. The pony responded by digging further under the sheets. "Oh, screw this," James said to himself. "Fine! I'm going!"

'_One day,' _James thought as he retrieved his weapon and trudged back to the wooded area. _'Hell, HALF a day, and I already hate this place. Half a day; that has to be some kind of record.'_

Now that he was out of danger and calm enough to clear his thoughts, James's mind turned back to his original task; getting some food from the town. That desire burned more than ever now, as he had been running everywhere all day. James stood at the edge of the woods for a brief moment in order to gauge the distance between where he was and the trees he saw when he first arrived. It was going to be a bit of a trip.

Taking a final glance to see if anyone was watching or following, James saw no-one, not even the horse he attempted to speak with. With that, he turned and strode into the trees.

* * *

><p>James took his time walking to the apple tree forest, remaining within the fringe of the trees in order to conceal his approach. By the time he had reached the cluster of apple trees, the sun was a burnt orange and was slowly dipping downwards toward the darkening horizon. When James felt confident that there was nobody around, he quickly swept from the trees, clambering over a tall fence to get to the nearest apple tree. He wasted no time, climbing up into the branches and emptying the boughs of the tree, picking ten apples in all.<p>

James stretched out atop a sturdy low-hanging branch and sat against the trunk of the tree. He didn't really have a bag to carry the apples in, so in order to lighten his load, James decided that he would eat whatever apples he couldn't stuff in the pockets of his jacket. He crunched into a bright red, round one; he had little to no memory at all, and yet he _still _felt that it tasted better than anything he could remember. He continued to eat, and before he knew it he had eaten half of his take, content and tired.

It was only when he heard a voice in the distance that his thoughts turned back to where he was. Climbing upwards into the higher branches of the tree, he gazed through the leaves in an attempt to see the pony approaching from cover, but only saw more apple trees. The trees seemed to go on forever, in an almost linear pattern.

In fact, it was a _perfect _linear pattern.

'_This isn't a forest,' _James realized. _'It's an orchard. Which means… that I'm stealing from whoever owns it!'_

Indeed, the pony approaching him was getting closer, which meant that James had to get further, and fast. Moving as quickly as he could without making too much noise, he planted his feet onto a low-hanging branch… and stupidly went cold and still as he locked eyes with an orange pony, her mane tied in a ponytail and a wide-brimmed hat atop her head. Luckily, seeing an armed, slender being of alien origin had her equally stunned.

"W-what the…?" The pony stammered.

James knew that she wouldn't be surprised for long, and took advantage of her momentary pause to leap from his perch to the nearest branch on another tree. He landed on the thick branch with a slight stumble, then immediately hopped, branch to branch, to another tree. Suddenly, in mid-jump, James felt a tug against his ankle that sent him crashing into the ground with a heavy _thud _and a winded gasp.

"Ha!" the pony called. "Gotcha, ya rotten little thief!"

James rolled onto his back, sitting up to see the creature approach him. In a cruel twist of irony, she had lassoed him with a length of rope, and was dragging him back to her by holding the rope in her teeth. Unfortunately, the mare had enough common sense to keep him a few feet away, preventing him from getting the drop on her. She then turned away from him and continued to drag him towards a place James thought it would be better to avoid.

"Thought you could steal from me, huh?" She asked (or at least James thought it was a 'she'), without looking at him. "I don't know what you are, but you don't seem to be from 'round these parts, so I'll forgive you for not thinking it's a _dumb idea_".

"Right," James replied to the shock of the mare, "Because I _certainly _knew this place was an orchard or anything of the sort. No, this _had _to be theft, and not some misunderstanding."

"Sarcasm'll get ya nowhere," she shot back.

After a brief pause, James decided to continue to bother the mare. Perhaps, with his banter, she wouldn't notice him untying the rope around his ankle.

"So, is this how you treat every guy on a first date?" He asked. "No dinner, no coffee, not even a _name?_ I mean, it's a good method, but I don't think this relationship will work. You're a horse, I'm white, and I'm not going to be hurt again."

That response got the mare's attention, as she gave an uncomfortable look at James over her shoulder. Seeing he had touched a nerve, James flashed her a sarcastic grin. Noticing a marking of three apples on her flank, James gestured to it and added, "Nice tattoo".

The mare's expression changed from discomfort to irritation. "It ain't a tattoo," she explained, "It's a cutie mark."

"There's a difference?"

"Yes, there's a difference!"

"...Oh, yeah, I guess there is. Sorry, being 'not from 'round these parts' makes me unable to guess something that I've never heard of before."

"Yer gettin' on ma nerves, thief," She replied.

"Oh, no!" James said in mock fear. "And what terrible wrath will I incur if I push too many of your buttons, whoever you are? Because, to me, you just look _precious. _What'll you do, _adorable _me to death with those green dinner-plate eyes?"

"Oh," she replied, turning around to get into his face, "I can think of a few things."

"Yeah?" James goaded, leaning in closer. "Name one."

"Keep pushin' me and I might just _show _you," she replied. The two of them were forehead-to-forehead at this point, James with a taunting gaze, staring right into the angry eyes of orange-hat mare.

And that's exactly what he wanted.

Taking his chance, James scrambled away from her, nearly making her fall face-first into the dirt. It took the mare a full second to piece together that, while they were having their little staring contest, he had untied the knot and freed himself.

"Looks like showing me your ways will have to wait," James called out in a taunting, flirtatious manner as he took off like a shot.

As James sprinted full-tilt towards the fence, he noted three things; the first was that, if he reached the fence, it would take too long for him to climb over. The second thing was that he could hear the hoofbeats of the mare slowly catching up to him. The third thing was that he wouldn't have any time to get to the fence because he was trying to outrun a galloping horse that would inevitably overtake him. Without distraction, that is. James knew he had to think quickly in order to avoid getting caught up or smashing face-first into the fence. James's eyes darted around, taking in every split-second opportunity he could spot.

There. A root had grown out into the footpath, sticking up out of the ground in a loop. No way would the mare fall for him just leading her into the natural trap, but if he were to further distract her, he might have a chance. James began to run in a zigzag pattern, turning the straightforward chase into a slalom through the trees. James called back to his pursuer, "You know, this must be really embarrassing for you!"

James knew that he would only have one shot in order to make this plan work. He slipped a fair-size apple from the pocket of his jacket, then turned and whipped it overhand at the mare. She was in the middle of responding to James's taunt when the apple struck her square between the eyes. James seized his chance, bolting for the fence with all of his speed. The mare shook off her daze, still running, and made a yelp of surprise as she caught her hoof in the root and tripped end over end, sliding to a stop in the dirt.

With the mare incapacitated, James went to make a leap for the top of the fence.

That's when things got _that much weirder._

James was about 5'8" and the fence was about 7' tall. He had intended (and should only have been able) to jump high enough to reach the top of the fence with his fingers. Instead, he somehow managed to jump high enough to catch his stomach against the fence. This almost sent James tumbling back to the ground, but he managed to get his bearings and hop the fence, landing in a crouch on the other side. Not a split-second later, a loud, cracking _bang _sounded on the other side of the fence as the mare caught up, slamming front-hooves first against the wood.

"You scrawny little punk!" she roared. "If I ever catch you in ma orchard again—"

"Aw, don't worry," James goaded. "I'm sure a mare as _beautiful and charming _as you will have other chances to nab the perfect guy!"

"SHUT UP! You filthy, stinken, rotten, featherbrained…!"

James had already began striding back towards the trees, leaving the mare to bang on the stiff fence and spout a series of G-rated expletives. The good news in this little adventure was that he managed to escape punishment and had a successful take. The bad news was that, of the ten apples he had taken, he had walked away with four, and that would only last him a few days in dire straits. Like it or not, he had to move back into the city and secure more food and supplies.

The thought of doing that made him edgy. It was guaranteed that the mare he had a close brush with would go to her friends or family, telling them about the thing that stole from her orchard. Hell, for all James knew, the other pony he had frightened earlier had done just that by now, and where one incident could be written off as crazy, two separate incidents, especially on the same day, would make it plausible that the thing in question could exist. The risk of being seen, and of being definitely caught, would be much greater now that the populace was aware of his existence, even if it was only a rumor. If James got caught, that would be it. Best case scenario, they would imprison him and ask questions that he wouldn't know the answers to. Worst case, they would interrogate him, torture him and in all probability execute him, then his body would likely be possessed by whatever government these ponies had to be dissected for scientific purposes.

'_Enough,' _James thought to himself. _'This is paranoia of my own making, and that will only worsen the situation. What's important is that I haven't been caught yet.'_

Before James fully entered the forest once more, he risked a moment to glance at the position of the sun. The town had turned into a dark silhouette against the red sky as the sun set below the trees. It would be dark soon, and that may just give James all the edge he would need. As James quickly ducked into the trees, he formed a plan; he would sneak back into the town under cover of darkness, find food and other provisions like matches, and sneak out before dawn as the people slept. From there, he would be able to properly ration his food until he could hunt and gather on his own. He would survive and thrive in the shadow of a civilization that would undoubtedly come to fear the rumor surrounding a being beyond their world, perhaps even their plane of existence, until he could find a way back home.

Not that James knew of it yet, but he would come to regret this decision.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite the light of Luna's moon beginning to filter through the windows, Twilight was hard at work. She was still writing a letter to her mentor, patron and friend, Celestia, and her day had been so productive and full of lessons that she hadn't room to put them all on the small parchment page she was writing on. She circumvented this slight but ultimately petty dilemma by highlighting the major things she learned, trying not to take too much pride in her grammar and penmanship.

"And…finished," Twilight said. As an afterthought, she lifted the parchment with her mind and rolled it into a scroll, binding it with a length of ribbon. With her letter done, she turned towards her companion, Spike, who would send the letter to Celestia magically.

"Okay, Spike…Spike?" Twilight glanced down at her friend to see him fast asleep; he must have passed out while Twilight was writing her message. As much as she disliked being tardy, Spike looked comfortable laying where he was, and she was reluctant to wake him.

As it turned out, however, she would not need to wake him; a loud, urgent banging on her front door made her jump and woke Spike with a startled snort. Twilight checked a nearby clock, noting that it was eight o'clock at night, not too late for a visit but late enough to be an oddity.

"Who would come over at this hour?" Twilight asked herself.

"Whoever it is," Spike said with minor irritation as he slowly gathered his bearings, "They should knock a little more quietly."

Ignoring him, Twilight was already at the door, peering through the tiny viewing port. Through it, she saw a sight that was common, strange and welcome at the same time; the bulky, tomboyish Applejack standing shoulder to shoulder with the small, winged form of Fluttershy. Perplexed at the sudden, unannounced arrival of an unlikely pairing of friends at this hour, Twilight nonetheless opened the door to greet them.

"Um, hi," Twilight said, "Fancy seeing you two here. Now. At, uh, this hour of night. Is there…something wrong?"

"Yes," both of them replied simultaneously. After a short pause, Fluttershy politely added, "May we come in?"

"Sure!" Twilight said. "Yeah, of course! Come on in!"

A few minutes later, Both Fluttershy and Applejack were retelling their similar stories, stories of a towering, slender being that could out-stride a charging mare and leap over 7 foot high fences.

"The darned thing _stole mah apples!" _Applejack spat. Twilight honestly thought that a few apples weren't a big deal, but kept her mouth shut considering how much Applejack prized them.

"I chased him off mah property," Applejack continued, "but the thing distracted me, an' I tripped over a root in the ground 'fore I could catch him."

"I...see," Twilight said, trying to keep the skepticism out of her voice. "And this happened _after _your encounter, Fluttershy?"

"Y-yes," Fluttershy replied, with Twilight having to struggle to hear her even in the silence of her library. "I was outside, watching the clouds roll by, and it wandered out of the Everfree. I ran inside to hide from it, and it followed me, shouting things at me. I hid under some bedsheets I was going to wash later on, and it…left by the time I came back out."

Twilight regarded her friends with concern. The two of them hadn't seen eachother all day until they ran into one another on the way to her home. Both of them had evidence of their encounter as well; Fluttershy looked visibly shaken, and Applejack was seething where she sat, her mane frizzy and her coat speckled with dirt. If they were making this up as a sick joke, which was highly unlikely, they were doing a very convincing job.

"…Okay," Twilight said, "I believe you guys, but can you describe this creature? Maybe I can find out if it's some monster or some such that was thought extinct."

"Well…it was big," Fluttershy began.

"And it could run, jump and climb like nopony's business," Applejack added.

"It was pale, and hairless, except for a tuft of brown fur on its head…"

"It was wearing clothes; pants and a jacket, stuff a pony wouldn't normally wear…"

"It had a big branch it was using as a club…"

Twilight listened intently to her friends' combined description, her concern building into worry as she slowly came to realize that the creature they were describing was not of this world.

Applejack concluded the description with "and he was downright _rude!"_

"Really?" Fluttershy asked. "I didn't hear anything too bad from him as I went inside to hide."

"You were lucky," Applejack grumbled.

"Well," Twilight said, "if this creature was smart enough to speak intelligently and form plans, there's a chance we can try to find him and talk to him. Maybe we can defuse the entire situation, you know, get him to come back into town with us and tell us why he stole from Sweet Apple Acres."

Fluttershy fidgeted uncomfortably at the notion of that idea. Applejack also looked uncertain.

"Look," Twilight explained. "I highly doubt that, with Applejack nearly catching him, this creature will be coming back to risk stealing from her again. So, we'll just head into the forest tomorrow during the day, with everyone, and track him down. I promise you there's nothing to worry about."

After a few minutes to bid them good evening, Twilight's two friends left her alone in her house. Spike was asleep again, having stumbled up into his room a few minutes after the three of them had gathered to speak. Trotting up to a nearby window, Twilight gazed out towards the trees. Indeed, the creature would be foolish to try and steal from Ponyville again…

…Right?

* * *

><p>With nervous eyes darting around and scanning both the ground and the sky for potential sentries, James crouched under one of the stone bridges leading into the town. There was a lot of open ground to traverse, and still plenty of opportunities to get caught. The fact that it was a clear night was worse; it meant that heavily shadowed places to conceal himself in would be in short supply. Nevertheless, James needed more than just food, he needed provisions and supplies in order to survive the night. Perhaps most importantly, he needed weapons. There was no way he would be able to fight off one of the chicken-demons or crazed mares from earlier in the day with just a branch.<p>

The way James saw it, he had three options of approach; move through the streets under the impression that 'the closer one is to danger, the further one is from harm', move across the rooftops and risk being seen from above, or find an entrance to the town's sewer system and risk getting trapped in the filth and stench. James selected the second option, as he searched the airspace and saw no danger. Slipping out from under the bridge and swiftly darting to the nearest building, he quickly clambered up a drainage pipe and climbed onto the roof. He had recently realized that his physical abilities had been amplified slightly, after he somehow managed to hop across a 6-foot wide gorge with little effort and climb up a tree in seconds on his way back into town. James also found out he could lick his own elbow, but he was pretty sure he could do that before this ordeal.

With a good vantage point of the town from the rooftop, James had a clear view of the streets. As he had expected there was very little foot (hoof?) traffic, but still a fair number of people. James spotted what seemed to be a market, but it was located (fittingly enough) in the area with the largest amount of open ground. However, an interesting-looking building was nearby, close enough to be a store but far enough to not be noticed if James were to steal from it.

In the back of his head, James felt a pang of guilt. There were ways around this. After all, this was merely a misunderstanding. For all he knew, the two ponies he spooked earlier hadn't told anyone of their encounters. Perhaps…no. That was an extremely unlikely event, and James couldn't take chances.

'_This is the path I have chosen,' _he thought. _'I must commit to it lest I never see my home again.'_

Before he knew it, James was on the roof of the building he had targeted. He checked the skies above him again, almost certain to find the silhouette of a darting pegasus above him. Still there was no movement, and so James quickly climbed down from the roof, making sure he wasn't seen. Noticing that the lights were off in the establishment, James peered into an open window to make sure nobody was inside. Highly convenient that this window was open. Apparently this area was a good enough neighborhood, or else the owners of this place were not very intelligent or observant.

The store appeared to be a sweet shop of sorts, which suited James ill, as candy wouldn't make very good rations for food. However, this was an opportunity too good to pass up, and James needed everything his grubby hands could carry. So through the window he slid, the floorboards making a soft creak as he touched down to the floor. James froze as he heard further creaking above him; something was upstairs, probably the owner of the establishment. James hadn't expected this, and stood for a few minutes, perfectly still, to listen for any signs of movement. After a few minutes of silence, James decided the owner was asleep in an upstairs apartment and went about his work.

Grabbing a sizeable burlap sack from behind the counter, James approached a shelf of baked goods and browsed. James grabbed a small cupcake from the shelf and bit into it experimentally; it tasted like either bad meat or good broccoli. Either way, it was gross to James's tastes, and he discarded it in favor of a sweet-tasting tart nearby. This process went on for about another ten minutes until James had found several bundles of treats to take with him. Noting that his activity hadn't woken the owner of the shop, James paused momentarily to consider where he had to go next on his five-finger shopping spree. He settled on supplies next; his own clothes would serve him perfectly right now, and weapons were priority.

Slipping out of the window legs-first, James retrieved the branch from where he set it outside, turned…and saw three pairs of eyes staring widely back at him. Worse still, one of them was a familiar green. He had gotten careless and allowed himself to let down his guard, and now he was paying the price.

As it so happened, there were a few stragglers just returning to their homes, and they were passing by just as James left. But one thing was for sure, they weren't going to take him so easily this time.

The penny dropped. One of the ponies cried out in alarm as James leapt over him and made a dead sprint for the forest. James paid no heed to the fact that it was the vicious dark forest from earlier; he would worry about preparation and logistics when he was out of the current predicament. Every muscle in his body strained as James poured on the speed, hearing hoofbeats and cries of fear and outrage behind him as he bolted for the relative safety of the trees.

'_The trees are my friend,' _James repeated in his mind to keep it off the pain of exertion. _'They will shield me from harm with leaf and shadow.'_

The ponies were catching up, and James once again remembered that he wasn't a draft-horse like their kind; he would inevitably be outpaced and caught. So he threw them through a loop by turning down a side alley and bursting up onto a low overhang, climbing onto a house and flying across the rooftops in a direction parallel to the treeline. He was certain nobody could get him from up here…

…Right?

* * *

><p>Even after her friends' explanations, Twilight couldn't <em>quite <em>believe what she was seeing.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, evading attempts to knock it from its perch with the occasional stone, and coming _straight for her home, _was a tall, thin being carrying a burlap sack and a bulky piece of driftwood. It was just as Applejack and Fluttershy described it; a pale creature, it had no coat but for a tuft of chocolate-coloured hair, and it wore clothing from chest to toe to protect its modesty and keep it from getting cold; a pair of black trousers, two large, clunky boots, a thick tan jacket. The creature wasn't close enough for Twilight to catch with magic, but it was getting closer by the second and didn't seem to notice her.

Twilight focused her thoughts on the creature, anticipating its movements and getting a feel of where it was going to be. She had to time a containment spell just right…

Suddenly and without warning, as always, a brilliant bolt of cyan blasted from the sky out of Twilight's peripheral vision, startling her and breaking her concentration. Rainbow Dash had intercepted the interloper, buzzing around him like an angry wasp as the creature ducked, dodged and doubled back towards the treeline in a desperate attempt to shake her. With her in the way, Twilight couldn't cast the spell without possibly ensnaring her.

Twilight could only stand idly by as Dash tried to grab her prey, staring in shock, confusion and a small amount of fear at the creature as it darted left and right, spouting what she could only think of as curses that she couldn't hear from that far away.

Which was probably why she didn't notice as Applejack quickly galloped up to her.

"Twilight!" she called out as she skittered to a stop next to her, snapping Twilight to her senses. "C'mon, Twilight, magic-zap 'im or something!"

"I can't," Twilight replied. "I could hit Dash."

In response, Applejack tried in vain to call Dash. "HEY, RAINBOW! GET OUTTA THE WAY SO TWILIGHT CAN CATCH THE THING!"

"No, wait—!" Twilight protested.

It was too late, however; the creature was made aware of Twilight's presence and re-doubled his efforts to get away. Swiping at Dash with his driftwood club, the creature eventually connected with the side of her head, dazing her long enough to get a headstart towards the trees of the Everfree. Twilight watched as the creature leapt from the rooftop to the ground, bolted into the forest and disappeared.

"Shoot!" Applejack yelled beside her, stamping her hoof in frustration.

Twilight ignored her. Whatever this creature was, it would seem that looking for it could not wait until tomorrow afternoon like she had originally planned.

"…Caught it coming out of Sugarcube Corner," Applejack was saying as Twilight phased back into reality. Applejack turned to her. "'Nothing to worry about', eh?"

"Okay, so I was wrong. I'm sorry. We can't wait until tomorrow afternoon to find this thing; we'll need to head out at dawn. We should probably get a bit of rest before then."

Twilight's shock had suddenly been replaced by anger. This creature, whatever its origins or intentions, had just stolen from two of her friends and injured another. Twilight watched as Dash touched down nearby, rubbing her head with her hoof and shrugging off other's attempts to help or calm her. Whatever the creature had said to her, it was evident she didn't like it. If that didn't put him on Twilight's 'list-of-disliked-peoples', then she didn't know what would.

As Applejack trudged towards Dash, Twilight called out to her.

"Hey, Applejack," she said. "I _was _right about one thing."

Applejack turned. "Yeah?"

"At least he didn't steal from _you _again."

Twilight could see Applejack suppress a smile to her own shame, then turn and trot away.

* * *

><p>'<em>Great. Real goddamn smooth, idiot.'<em>

James flinched as he pulled another thorn out of his arm. He had the misfortune of brushing past a thorn-bush on his way into the forest, which was a slight problem compared to what he faced now. A few hours ago, retribution from an angry populace was an avoidable possibility. Now, it was inevitably guaranteed. James knew he was in dire straits at this point. He was lost in a hostile environment with only a sack of delectables for food and an oak branch for defense. He was officially on the run from an advanced and undoubtedly powerful civilization. Worse still, he had left the town without any way to warm, heal or comfort himself, and had gained a new enemy; the pegasus that called herself 'Rainbow'.

But that didn't matter. The town would be in disarray, wracked by fear of a phantom raider. James had a limited time until that fear turned to shock, then to vengeful rage, and he would use that time to his advantage. But for now, he needed rest. Finding a tall tree, James climbed wearily to the topmost branch that could support his weight to avoid the shrieking nocturnal predators of this death-forest's ecosystem. By morning, he would devise a great plan, with a few objectives in mind; James would, from here on in, prioritize his survival over everything else. He would stay in the dark forest despite the peril, using the deadly environment as a shield against the superstitious folk who yearned for his capture. He would use any means necessary to cover his tracks, even if he had to scorch earth and dispose of those who became aware of his existence.

James hoped that he would be able to survive long enough to thrive in a world not his own. It was a long time before he fell into a black, dreamless sleep. As he slept, and while the town warily shut down for the night, a third party watched both from afar, unseen and unnoticed.


	4. Chapter 4

James awoke to the feeling of the tree he had slept in shaking beneath him.

Quietly and slowly, he shifted his weight until he could see the forest floor below. A massive, leonine shape rumbled through the trees, parting them as it passed. It had luckily neglected to spot James, but he decided that here would not be the place to stay much longer regardless. After the creature moved past, James moved down to the lowest limb of the tree and looked in the direction it was going. He could not see or hear anything, and the only sign of the monster were huge paw-prints and trampled shrubbery. James took yet another mental note, James swung the burlap bag filled with sweets around his shoulder to carry it like a satchel, and headed in the direction the monster came from.

* * *

><p>"Well, look on the bright side," Pinkie Pie said, a slight smile in spite of what had transpired the previous evening. "It could have taken <em>everything."<em>

As Twilight watched her strange friend go about her business, she gazed at the shelves the creature had raided. Where some spaces on the shelf were barren of the food products that were put on them, others had been untouched but for a single one with a bite taken from it. The rest of the store had no signs of tampering; the cash register was untouched, baking ingredients like sugar and flour were left alone, and the only other sign of theft was the absence of a single burlap bag taken from behind the counter.

This was not a random occurrence. The creature was stealing food almost exclusively, gathering it. It was clear that the reason behind this was because the creature couldn't find food on its own, and it had resorted to stealing in order to survive. But why would it steal _sweets, _of all things? Wouldn't it steal something of better nutrition, like vegetables or fruit? There were other places it could have done this sort of thing; cafés and other likeminded businesses that had better food in terms of what it would need in a survival situation.

'_The market,' _Twilight realized. _'There would be too much activity there; it would be seen much more easily. The creature had planned ahead, using the layout of the town to hide its activity. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked out well for it.'_

"Pinkie," Twilight said to her friend, causing her to turn towards her in her trademark jittery manner. "I'm really sorry about this?"

"Why?" Pinkie asked. "You didn't have anything to do with this, unless you're hiding a few extra sweets from me."

Twilight let the light-hearted teasing comment wash over her. "Yeah," she continued, "but I could have stopped him before this happened. I could have gone out and—"

"Don't blame yourself," Pinkie cut her off. "Anyway, _I'm _sorry I can't help you look for him. I have a little bit of baking to do."

"That's okay," Twilight replied, although a small part of her wanted to protest. This creature seemed to have great potential to be dangerous; Twilight would feel a lot more comfortable if all of her friends were by her side. As it stood, she had four friends joining her in this endeavor; Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Spike volunteered to accompany them, but two of her friends were absent; Pinkie Pie was busy re-stocking the shelves of Sugarcube Corner and Rarity, the only one of the six of them who did not witness the events of yesterday, was out of town. This bothered her slightly, as she felt that until such time as she had a grasp of what this thing was capable of, she could use all the help she could get. Speaking of her friends, it would seem they had gathered outside and were waiting for her.

"Well," Twilight said, "we'll see you this afternoon. Hopefully with an alien creature at our side who will be answering for this."

"Sure, sure!" Pinkie replied. "Good luck!"

* * *

><p>A few hours had passed since James had woken up and left the scene where the monster was spotted. Judging by the fact that it was mid-morning, and the sun was rising directly to his right, James assumed that he was going north. On the outskirts of his mind, infuriatingly out of reach, was a ghost of a memory that James could not for the life of him recall, along with the distinct feeling that his skills were connected to his arrival somehow.<p>

'_I can't dwell on that now,' _he thought. _'My memories I will find out soon enough, and it would be better for me to let them resurface on their own. From here on in, the only direction I need care about is forward.'_

And forward was where he went. Eventually James came to a small clearing, strangely at peace within the dark forest, through which James had treaded cautiously, avoiding the slightest sights and sounds at every opportunity. Slicing through the clearing in a twisting, bending path was an impossibly clear stream; free of pollutants, dirt or silt, the stream's water was transparent, enabling James to see clear through to the bottom. Fish swam swiftly through the water, leaving behind rippling wakes that shimmered with dancing light and disappeared. James found a nice, big rock by the banks of the stream, and sat down, pulling off his heavy boots and removing his thick socks. Barefoot, he rested against the rock for a moment.

Once again, James found himself admiring the beauty of the world around him. Of the many memories he was sure he had but simply could not recall to the forefront of his mind, there was one he had made dead certain; wherever he came from was _nowhere near _as gorgeous as this place was. In particular, James had a feeling about the water and sky, something about them not being clear, being muddy or dusty, certainly not drinkable and hardly breathable. Grey and brown colours swirled up in his mind. A spark flourished in his thoughts, an idea that was as brilliant as it was dangerous.

'_I could stay here.'_

The thought was extinguished as fast as it had come into being. James could never stay here, not forever. He was an outsider, a thing from beyond; even if he wasn't hunted down like an animal and killed by the world's people, they would never accept him. He would be an outcast in their society, alienated if not shunned by them. Even without violence, there would be no peace between him and them.

James decided his rest was over and slipped his socks and boots back on. He was unfortunately unable to find a bottle or canteen to take water in, so he had to make do with what he could. Kneeling down, He cupped his hands into a bowl and scooped up a small amount of water, which he tasted without swallowing to ensure it wasn't poisoned or something. The water tasted cold and refreshing, so James decided he was in the clear and drank as much as he could, knowing he would need it.

It was only when he began to hear faint footfalls that he stopped to listen. For a brief, terrifying moment, James thought that the massive lion-thing from earlier had returned to its watering hole for a drink. But the creatures approaching on his six were different; the beast would definitely make noise on its approach, the cracking of tree limbs and the thunder of footfalls creating a fanfare to its arrival. These creatures were smaller, and there were more than one, as James could hear their approach from multiple areas behind him. He expected some kind of pack animals, but what was waiting for him was a surprise that was both inevitable and yet far too soon.

"Hello," one of the ponies said to him.

James masked his surprise and rose slowly to a crouch, then turned to face the pony who had hailed him. Before him stood four of their kind, and three of them were the mares he had faced yesterday, because _of course his luck would be that bad. _The first of them was, fittingly enough, Ms. Orange-hat, who looked generally happy to see him, in a you're-so-going-to-get-it way. To her right was Rainbow, who was not very friendly looking; the two of them had a nice conversation about weight, good insults and dead parents last night that James saw she didn't _quite _get over. To Orange-hat's right was a newcomer, a violet pony with a horn poking from her head and a diminutive reptile standing at her side. Finally, the fourth pony, which James recognised as the one he had scared yesterday, hung back from the group near the edge of the clearing, regarding James with eyes that seemed terrified and terrifying at the same time.

"Um, hi," the purple mare repeated. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I assume that you can understand what I'm saying?"

"Who wants to know?" James replied sharply.

Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Rainbow. "We do!" she yelled in response, lifting off the ground and flying up to get into James's face. "Remember me, tough guy?"

James squinted at the mare, sarcastically studying her. "Should I?" he asked flatly.

"I'm the one," she growled, "that you smacked over the head with a stick last night!"

"Ah, yes!" James replied in mock surprise. "An evening I shall cherish forever!" He leaned to look past Rainbow at Orange-hat. "I remember you too. Still not giving a name, huh? How's that tactic working out with the guys?"

"Alright, that's enough!" Twilight interrupted. She had approached behind Rainbow in order to calm her friend into backing off.

"Your friend has a big mouth," James said.

"Big temper, too," Twilight responded calmly. James saw that he'd need to do a lot worse to get Twilight angry, or at least get her to show that anger. "Look," she continued, "we didn't come here to fight. We came here to ask you to come back with us. I get the feeling we got off on the wrong hoof, and I think it would be better, for _all _of us, if we just tried to figure out what happened, and maybe where you came from as well."

James frowned. He didn't know how he got here, but he would definitely be more comfortable figuring it out on his own. He also didn't trust any of the ponies; of the four of them, two were ones he had made enemies with, and that made James think that they were here for more than just a few stolen groceries. The fact that they wanted James to come with them back to town was unnerving as well; Twilight seemed to say that as though she took James as a convict to be captured rather than a lost man to be helped. Either way, he decided that going back to a town he had just stolen from among a group of ponies who were half hostile to him was not in his best interests.

"And if I refuse?" he asked.

"You say that as though we're giving you a _choice," _Rainbow said.

"That's funny," James replied. "Last I recall, that fruity little tramp stamp of yours was a lightning cloud, not a _badge."_

"No!" Twilight hurriedly reassured him. "No, nonono, we won't make you do anything that you don't want to do. We'll just…take the sweets you have back, and that'll be it."

James considered this. "No," he replied. "I still need them."

"Well," Twilight said. "At least tell us where you intend to go, right?"

"I'm not telling you," James said, "You'll follow me!"

"No, we won't!" Twilight insisted. "We swear!"

James suddenly noticed something. Orange-hat was gone; she had moved out of James's eyesight, which meant…

James's hand clenched up a fistful of dust from the ground and asked, "Where's the other one?"

His suspicions were confirmed in the split-second it took for Twilight's eyes to involuntarily look over James's shoulder. She was most definitely here to capture him; the only reason she had bothered speaking to him was to keep him in one spot while Orange-hat manoeuvred around him to catch him off-guard.

"Now, Applejack-!" was all she could manage before James let loose a burst of dust into both her and Rainbow's eyes.

Everything kicked off at once. James turned and used the last few feet of ground to get a full head of steam on Applejack, who had stupidly waded into the stream to get behind him. Timing a jump perfectly, he leapt over her as she slipped past in an attempt to turn around. Using the time he had while Rainbow was blinded, he splashed through the stream and emerged sprinting on the other side. All the while, his eyes were open for the fourth mare, but she was nowhere to be seen, which somehow felt worse.

Suddenly, Rainbow was in front of him, blocking his path into the trees. She must know that James would have the advantage there, her speed being of little use in the dense forest.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked smugly.

James responded by baseball-sliding under and past her. "I think I'm going past you, _slowpoke!"_

That definitely got the mare's attention as she bolted after him. James had been sprinting for the trees, and had just gotten into the brush when Rainbow caught up with him. In response, James simply stopped; this was something she didn't expect, and she overshot her target by a mile.

"Bye!" James called before turning and sprinting into the unknown forest.

* * *

><p>Dash had already hated this pipsqueak, but the fact that he was egging her on made her hate him more. To feather what Twilight's plan was, and to feather with Applejack's problems, she was brought along to catch this punk and, by Celestia, she was going to catch him first!<p>

Her powerful wings propelling her at breakneck speeds, Rainbow Dash powered through the sky, skimming just over the treeline. If she could get past her quarry (which wouldn't be hard), she could easily cut him off and give him a little thank-you present in return for the thump over the head he gave her yesterday.

Faintly, Dash could hear yells and cries of anger from Applejack. It would seem that this guy was giving her a hard time, and her thoughts of friendship overpowered her desire for vengeance. Dipping downward into the canopy, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the creature evading Applejack by running across the branches of trees.

"Remember this?" he called tauntingly at Applejack as he jumped from tree to tree.

'_Keep talking,' _Dash thought. _'Once I've got you, you won't be so slick!'_

* * *

><p>James had the two of them right where he wanted them.<p>

As he moved through the branches of the trees, he had Applejack on the ground below him and Rainbow coming up through the air behind him. The two of them clearly had a rivalry going, as both of them wanted a piece of him and both were willing to do whatever it takes to get to him first.

At least, that's what James's goading was supposed to do. And it appeared to be working.

Dash was roughly five yards away. At the same time, Applejack, who hadn't noticed her as she bulleted through the air, attempted to intercept James by running up a nearby cliff and tackling him. James vaulted to the side, and by the time they realized what was about to happen, it was too late. The pair collided, Applejack's weight slamming Dash into a nearby tree where the both of them collapsed in a heap, sputtering curses at James and one another.

"I had 'im!" James could hear Applejack scream as he ripped down the narrow, natural path.

Now that the two most prevalent threats were out of the way, James shifted his attention to the surrounding forest, looking for Twilight or the other mare. There was no possible way he could've lost them; they had to be setting up some kind of trap. James suddenly saw a light at the end of the trees, like a wall. He skidded to a stop, and with good timing, too—he had come full stop at the edge of a twenty-foot-high cliff. A few yards to his left, the stream he had stopped to drink at earlier culminated in a waterfall, which fell into a river below. He moved towards that, looking for handholds to try and climb his way down.

And then he felt it. An ozone feeling that made his hairs stand up on end, a reality-searing _zap _and suddenly his body went numb, with a metallic feeling in his mouth. His limbs quickly began to twitch and convulse back to life, but they felt weak; James began to feel himself sink to his knees involuntarily.

'_NO!' _his mind rebelled at the feeling, forcing his body to fight in order to keep its balance. In his heart, however, he knew it was useless; one way or another, he was falling. Stumbling around to face his attacker, he saw Twilight, her horn blazing with brilliant light that fizzled out.

* * *

><p>Twilight stared grimly at the creature, noting that it had tensed every muscle in its body in an attempt to resist blacking out. Her stun spell had connected, leaving him vulnerable enough to be caught in a containment spell.<p>

'_Now,' _she thought, _'let's try this again…'_

However, Twilight noticed something strange. The creature was straining to look behind him.

Like he was considering something…

The realization came too late; Twilight watched in horror as the creature used the last ounce of strength left in its body to violently twist…and throw itself off the ledge. He didn't even let out a sound.

"NO!" she cried out in terror, running to the edge of the cliff. Frantically, her eyes searched the water below, even the forest, a sick part of her mind expecting to see the broken form of the creature on the rocky banks. Nothing.

"No! No, no, not like this!" she said to herself. She wanted the creature captured so he wouldn't get himself or others hurt. She never expected it to go _this far. _"Come on, where are you?"

Her friends found her there two minutes later. After a fruitless search of the riverbanks, the group gave up, seeing the sun setting in the distance. As they went home, the four of them asked Twilight what had happened.

It took a long time for her to answer.

* * *

><p>James had dreamed of being watched.<p>

Something out there, watching him, staring back from the abyss that was his memories. The cold, heavy weight of some malicious presence in his mind, regarding him. Almost…judging him.

The scene changed.

He was standing in a desert of grey sand, looking down at a huge, carved rock in a crater. The pack that held his goodies was there, but it felt heavier, as though it were holding something else as well. He felt that he was holding something in his hands as well, but his eyes were fixed on the stone, unable to look anywhere else.

Behind him, a voice that sounded both familiar and strange asked "What do you think it is?"

His conscience snapped him into awakening. Immediately, he found himself staring into the face of a pony. Crying out in alarm and anger, James gripped a weighty stone and brought it upwards into the side of the mare's head. The mare didn't even have time to cry out before she was struck into unconsciousness.

James was immediately on his feet, despite his every muscle feeling like it was on fire. He raised the stone above his head, ready to bash the unicorn's skull in.

"Okay, here's where you get…yours?" James paused. He noticed that the pony he saw now was different; definitely a unicorn, but with a green hide, made purple where James had slammed her. On her flank was an image of a harp or lyre.

James realized he was looking at the minty-coloured pony he first encountered on this world.


	5. Chapter 5

James regarded the mint-colored mare as she lay unconscious beside him. A long time had passed while he had been sleeping, and it would be nightfall in less than an hour. In this forest, under the particular circumstances, with a couple hundred pounds of dead weight to lug around, and physically weak from the stun attack, those were not his kind of odds. Just what the hell was she doing out here, anyway?

James had evaluated his situation since he knocked Little Miss Minty out. The good news was that he had lost his would-be captors, albeit the hard way; if his stupid, crazy plan had worked, they would think he was dead and not worth pursuing. His pack had remained as well, having clung to his back as he was carried by the river current. The bad news, of course, greatly outweighed the good; he was defenseless, alone without aid, and he was in the company of a mare who would be very displeased to see him upon awakening.

Part of James wanted to leave the mare behind, as she was far too heavy to carry and could try to take him down if she woke up. On the other hand, she did save James's life, and he wasn't about to reward her by leaving her to get eaten by some scavenger. Still, already he had wasted twenty minutes lingering in the same area. If his pursuers were still not convinced, they could find him at any second. James had to act, and soon, because no matter what came for him, he would be powerless to stop it from capturing him, or worse.

James made up his mind; threat of peril or no, this mare was a bystander, not an enemy. He couldn't just _leave _her. Moving in cautiously, James examined the KO'd pony. She seemed to be okay, as James saw her breathing and could notice her stirring from time to time. However, James needed to make certain that she was alive and well. James knelt down to check for a pulse…

* * *

><p>…And Lyra's eyes shot open.<p>

Her brain felt a little bit fuzzy from her nap; the last thing she could remember was the startling awakening of the creature she was saving, followed by a huge rock going right for her head and then, darkness. Needless to say, she wasn't exactly pleased to see the exact same creature, stone in hand, standing over her once she woke up.

* * *

><p>The mare let out a cry of terror and scrambled to her four feet. James fell back rapidly a few steps, instinctively raising the stone he was carrying above his head in a defensive gesture.<p>

"Wait, hold on a sec—" James began before the unicorn fired an energy blast that lanced right into his chest. There was searing pain, and the smell of burning flesh, but otherwise James was unaffected; this was no stun spell.

Before the unicorn could let loose another energy shot, James was in close. He swung his arms around the mare's neck, holding fast as she cried out and frantically attempted to skitter away. Being a horse, she eventually succeeded.

"Wait! Just hang on for a moment!" James implored. He had dropped the stone and raised his hands in a conceding gesture. Although he had no doubt that he could easily overpower the mare were he actually trying, he had no desire to harm her and she had given him no good reason.

The mare paused, as though to listen.

"There. See? I'm not trying to—"

Suddenly, James felt a hard impact in his stomach that winded him and nearly knocked him over. The unicorn had rammed into him, and was now scampering into the forest.

"Okay, that's just—_now I'm mad." _James was immediately on his feet and running after the mare for all he was worth. The creature was fast, but it was slowed and hindered by the forest terrain, whereas James used it as a tool. Before long, however, the mare had encountered a bog and had stopped at its shore, contemplating what it should do. Seemingly coming to a decision, she turned to confront him.

"Get away!" she yelled. "Leave me alone!"

"You helped me," James replied, moving slowly with his hands raised. "Why? Why would you do that if you were just going to leave me?"

The mare considered her answer, backing away a step for every one James took, moving into the bog's waters. "You were drowning. I couldn't just leave you. And then…you attacked me!"

"I was frightened," James countered. "Your people were chasing me and I ended up off a cliff. If you just experienced that and woke up staring into the face of one of my people, you would be frightened too."

The mare had backed up until all four of her hooves were in the water. Her jaw tightened as she went to answer. It was then that James noticed something; the water around her was rippling, and not just from her troubled steps; something _else _was moving under the water nearby.

"Hey," James hinted, "maybe you should get out of that water."

"No," she replied, instead stepping further into the bog. "I don't trust you."

"No, really," James said, trying not to draw her attention to the water. "From what I hear, bogs have all sorts of bacteria and bugs and, uh…_predators…_you know, like, ah, fish…_"_

"What's that supposed to—?"

Suddenly the mare yelped, yanking her hoof out of the mud. "Something just moved past my leg!"

"Don't worry," James replied. "It's probably just…seaweed!"

"This is _fresh water!" _She cried out, scanning the water.

"Look, just…just GET OUT of the water NOW!" James insisted.

Too late. There was a tugging movement on the mare's leg. She had enough time to flash James a terrified look before she was pulled under.

James looked around for a weapon, knowing that whatever was in this pool would come after him next. He eventually found, in the swamp waters, an almost perfectly straight branch sticking out of the mud, seemingly unnatural and out of place. It would be perfect for a staff, but it was also in the middle of the bog.

That, however, was the least of his problems. Bursting from the water in front of him was a reptilian beast, its huge head rearing up from the waters on a long, muddy brown neck. In its jaws, held by her leg was the mare, thrashing and screaming for all her worth. As it regarded James with cold, green eyes, he noticed three more identical heads rising from the water.

"Okay," James said, pulling up a nearby stone, "this should be interesting."

Immediately, a head on his far left snapped at him with serpentine agility. He ducked it, concentrating his attacks on the head holding the mare captive. Throwing the stone over the first head, it instead hit another head that got in the way of his target. The third head made another swipe for him, but James leapt into the water and began moving towards the creatures, hoping that he would be able to get to the staff before one of the beasts could snap him up.

Another head came for him. This time, James manoeuvred well enough for the creature to bite another creature's neck. This caused the two of them to begin a fight, hissing and roaring furiously at one another as they snapped at neck and jaw. With two of the four heads preoccupied, James turned his attention to the other two. The remaining head was already upon him, but James dropped below the water to escape it. Grasping another nearby stone from the water bed, James burst upwards and took aim at the head holding the mare. She was being held in such a way that she could twist around and see what he was doing.

"Look out!" She called.

James paused, arguably the dumbest thing to do in this situation, and felt the breath of a reptilian monster at his back. The creature's head whipped around, coming down with its jaw open over James, intending to swallow him whole.

'_Well,' _James thought, _'helluva run.'_

There was a sudden burst of brilliant light, and the creature reeled, shrieking. The pony had fired an energy pulse, hitting it square on and giving James time to take aim. Whipping the stone overhead, it sailed through the air and hit the head holding the pony right in one of its huge, cold eyes. Letting out a hiss of anger and pain, it released the pony, and twisted around to shield its other eye. This allowed James to get up to the mare and help her to her hooves.

"Okay, now what?" James asked her.

"Wha—you're asking ME!?" she responded.

One of the heads that was fighting its own a moment ago darted right at the two.

"DOWN!" James roared, throwing his weight into the pony and sending them both into the muck as the head shot past.

James was up again in moments, with the mare beside him, sputtering and coughing bog water. Suddenly, James saw what he was looking for; the stick he wanted was a few feet away. Without delay, he gripped it, pulled it out of the mud, and found that the staff was indeed artificial as he had suspected. James found himself holding a spear, its dull metal head rusty, but still intact.

Another head snapped at him, but this time James was ready; gripping the shaft of the weapon tightly, he thrust the spearhead into the roof of the creature's mouth. It reeled back, roaring as James moved under the coils of its neck.

"Come on," James called the mare, who was busy holding off a head of her own. "I've made an opening!"

The mare responded by turning away and running as fast as she could in the water. Heads made moves for them both, but were turned away by magical blasts and spear thrusts. Eventually, the two were backed up onto dry land, and began to run from the shrieking predator until they could no longer hear it. They had returned to roughly where they had begun their escapade, on the banks of the river, where the two of them collapsed with exhaustion.

After a really long time, the pony gasped out "Thank you."

"Likewise," James replied. "I would be snake food were it not for you."

Laying on his back, James saw the sky, a deep, fading red far to his right, but mostly a darkening blue, the first stars of night beginning to light up in the sky. As much as he wanted to lay here, he knew it wouldn't be safe when night came along.

He rolled onto his chest and got into a crouch. "Listen," he said to the mare, "we can't stay here. It isn't safe."

"Really?" she responded a moment later as she rolled off of her back and got up with him. "The hydra back there seemed pretty _safe_ to me."

James suppressed a smile. He got a feeling he was going to like this one. "Come on," he said, "I'll walk you back to your hometown."

About half an hour passed until James and the mare followed the river back to the cliff where James fell from earlier. The sky was overcast, but at least it wasn't raining.

"So, uh," James said, "I don't think I ever got your name."

"Oh, right!" the mare replied. "I'm Lyra." She extended her hoof outward, a prompt for James to reach out and shake it.

"James," he introduced himself.

"James, huh?" Lyra asked. "Interesting name. Can I call you Jim?"

"Nobody ever has."

"So, no then?"

"I…suppose it wouldn't hurt."

The two of them had stopped at the cliff face, next to the roaring waterfall that pounded down on the rocks. James rationalized that, while near the waterfall, it would be too loud for any monsters to hear them over the noise and come to check it out. That, and they needed water to drink, and this was the cleanest water he could find.

"Wow," Lyra said flatly. "This is what you fell off of? How?"

James was reluctant to answer, so he changed the subject. "I'm going to build a fire. Do you think you could help?"

"Yeah, sure," she said.

It took about ten minutes to gather the wood from the edges of the forest on either side of them. Once they had enough wood, James piled them up and began rubbing two sticks together to make a fire. The problem was, James wasn't really good at it, and it was another ten minutes until a small flame popped up, which James blew on and turned into a full fire.

"So," Lyra asked after that was done, "remind me why you didn't want me to get green branches."

"Green branches don't burn as easily," James explained, "but they smoke like crazy, which can be noticed from anywhere by anyone. Dry wood, like this, burns much better, which is only slightly less noticeable and also serves the purpose we want it to."

"Fascinating," Lyra replied.

The next half hour was pretty much all questions from her. It was okay at first, but it eventually got irritating.

"Where do you come from?"

"I don't remember."

"Do you need help getting home?"

"Probably! Can we just—"

"Does this subject, y'know, make you edgy? Should I stop?"

"Yes, I guess! Just—"

"I'm hungry."

James paused. "Well," he said, "finally, something I can help you out with."

James pulled the pack of sweets off his back and rummaged through it. "Let's see, we have…butter tarts…and, oh look! More butter tarts!"

Lyra gave James a sideways look. "Butter tarts? How'd you get those?"

"I, um…" James struggled for an answer. "I…Iyyaaaahhh….I stole them."

It took Lyra a moment to answer. "And…that's why they were chasing you?"

"Well, not exactly," James admitted. "There was this whole build-up and such…it doesn't matter now."

The next five minutes were filled with semi-awkward silence. James could tell that Lyra was judging him inside, considering if she should shame him for it or leave him be. And who could blame her? James was a thief, out of necessity or not, and if she wanted to resent him for it, he would allow her to.

"So!" James said finally. "Aside from butter tarts, we have a single muffin, and uh, there are fish in that stream, if you don't mind eating it off a rusty spear that's been in bogwater for who-knows-how-long, and I guess that's…it…" James suddenly realized that he used to have a lot more than what he was carrying now. At some point, perhaps when drifting through the river, perhaps when fighting the hydra, a hole had been torn in the bottom of the bag, leaving only three butter tarts, a muffin and a single hard candy.

"Oh, crap."

"What, what's wrong?" Lyra asked.

"I'm almost out of food," James said. He neglected to add that he had done a lot of work to pull off a heist that he could only pull of once. Regardless, he shared what was left with Lyra until it was completely gone, keeping the bag as it could still come in handy.

"Man, this sucks," James said to himself. "The only reason I decided to steal from…uh…"

"Ponyville," Lyra said, naming the town he had escaped from.

"Ponyville…huh. Anyway, the only reason I decided to steal from Ponyville was because I needed the food to get me along for the first few days here. Now that it's gone, I don't know how I'll manage to survive without supplies."

"Well," Lyra said in an attempt to cheer him up. "Look on the bright side! We both had a halfway-decent meal tonight, and let's face it, things can't possibly get—"

Thunder boomed overhead. A split-second later, water came down in buckets, drenching the both of them and putting the fire out.

"I'm sorry," James said, "were you going to say 'worse'?"

"No." Lyra made a face that made it obvious she was lying.

"You're _absolutely _sure?"

"Yes! Honest!"

"I don't believe you."

In the rain, the two abandoned their makeshift campsite, James tossing the firewood into the river to be carried away by the current and brushing out any scorch marks in the dirt. Eventually, the two found a relatively dry overhang jutting from the cliff face and set up shop there. Among blasts of rolling thunder, James could hear the sounds of the forest, every animal and beast that moved through the shadows.

"Lyra?" James said.

"Yeah?"

"Look, I can't take you back tonight. It's too dangerous. I'm sorry, but we have to stay here for the night until we can move safely again."

"Well," Lyra responded, "as much as I prefer my bed to the cold, hard ground, I'll take your word for it."

"That's good. I'll take first watch. In a few hours, I'll wake you up and then you'll wait a few hours while I sleep. Deal?"

Lyra thought for a moment. "Deal," she agreed.

As Lyra curled up nearby, James took watch in the darkness, listening to the rain and keeping his spear close. It was good that Lyra agreed to sleep first; after what had transpired when he was unconscious earlier, he wasn't very tired.

* * *

><p>When sleep did come to James, it came quickly. No dreams came that night, but there was still a strange feeling in the back of his mind, like eyes on him. When he woke up, the feeling faded again. What did it mean? Was it some kind of aftereffect of his journey here, or just a product of his high-strung brain? Whatever it was, James had no time to ponder it. The morning had come again, and with it relative safety to travel. The rain had stopped as well, allowing him and Lyra to travel comfortably.<p>

"Alright," James explained to her shortly after he was awake. "We're going to have to travel light, but that isn't our biggest problem. Due to my current status with the locals, I can't take you all the way back to Ponyville, so we'll settle for finding a major avenue leading back to civilization. We need to move as quickly as possible, I'd rather not get caught up again for the night here."

"Wait," Lyra said with an edge of concern in her voice. "What about you? Where will you go once I'm safe?"

"Oh, I think I can get along just fine," James said as he bent down to tie his bootlaces. "Besides," he continued, "I think it's more important that you're safe. Anyway, we should start off by getting up to the top of this cliff. It'll give us a sense of which direction town is, and a vantage point to give us the lay of the land."

"Sense of direction?" Lyra said.

"Think of it this way. We're close enough to the waterfall so as to find it and follow the river back to the clearing where I was found by your pals. Beyond that," James replied, retrieving the rusty spear, "I think I know the way."

Before long, the two were off, following the cliff to try and find a way up. James would never say it aloud, but he was glad to have someone to share in his misery.

And yet somehow he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't _quite_ alone in his travels thus far.


	6. Chapter 6

For roughly three hours, Lyra and James walked alongside the cliff looking for a path upward. Under normal circumstances, James would have simply scaled the edge of the cliff, but having Lyra along with him made him reluctant to suggest this idea. To their right was a wall of solid stone, and to their left were blackened trees that loomed over their heads and signified the threat of being attacked at any moment. In the forest, the world went dark and cold; it was as though the flora and fauna of the forest suffocated the sky and created a new environment where hope and joy were non-existent.

Luckily, Lyra's almost incessant questioning took James's mind off of the matter.

"Do you remember anything at all?" she asked.

"Lyra," James replied, "What have we been talking about for the last hour and a half? I told you already several times over, I have no idea where I came from or how I got here."

"And if you had listened," Lyra countered, "You would realize that I didn't ask you how you got here or where you came from! I asked if you remember anything."

James stopped in his tracks, unsure if he should tell her what he remembered.

"I remember falling," he said. "Feeling like I was falling from a high place. That's the first memory I've had in this world."

"Anything else?"

"Well…" James said, recalling his time by the clear stream the other day. "I do remember one thing. You know how clear and beautiful the sky is here?"

"Yeah…?"

"Not so much back home. I remember a lot of brown and grey things there. But aside from that, nothing."

The two of them continued on their path.

"Okay," Lyra continued. "So, grey and brown, and falling. Not very much to go on. Have you tried to remember anything beyond that?"

James snorted. As much as he preferred Lyra's company over certain others, her curiosity and strange interest in who he was annoyed him. His memories may have been erased, but his mannerisms and instincts remained, and they told him that curiosity could be a deadly mistake.

He turned on his acquaintance and regarded her. "Why the sudden interest?" he asked.

"Because I might be able to help you," Lyra said.

This time it was James who had questions. "How?" he asked.

"By using a scrying spell."

"Scrying." James considered the word. "What, like…crystal balls? Fortunes?"

"Well," Lyra replied. "Kind of, except think of your head as the crystal ball."

"You can do that?"

"I'm not as talented as, say, Twilight Sparkle or anything, but I _think _I can manage it…_maybe._"

James considered the idea. Pony or not, he didn't like the concept of someone unscrewing the top of his head to take a gander inside; he was a little attached to personal boundaries.

"Later perhaps," he replied, "if you're good."

* * *

><p>Eventually, the two of them abandoned their plan to find an easier path, and settled on an idea; James would take a particularly long creeper from one of the trees, climb to the top of the cliff and use it to pull Lyra up to him. It took a lot of attempts, with a lot of broken vines and a few instances of Lyra painfully hitting the ground as James pulled her up and she steadied herself by planting her hooves and walking up the cliff's face. Three specific times, the vine snapped or got loose from James's hands, causing Lyra to fall particularly far, though luckily there was no serious damage to her.<p>

The two of them continued to move across the edge of the cliff back in the direction of the waterfall. A large portion of their trip back was uninterrupted walking, which made James uneasy. He felt as though the silence of their trip would be broken by a roving beast, or worse yet, another pony patrol. Nothing came. Despite this, James kept his spear close. In all realism, the weapon would be no use in an actual fight; its blade was almost turned from grey to red with rust, and it had been dulled enough so as to be unable to cut his hand if he dragged it across his palm. In fact, it had begun to corrode, and James doubted it would be able to stab a pumpkin without breaking apart. But regardless, he kept it close, feeling a safe connection to it.

After the pair had reached the waterfall again, they stopped for just a moment to drink.

"So," James told Lyra, "If I'm correct, we should be able to follow the river back to the clearing where I was before. From there on in, I think I know the way to town."

"Wait," Lyra said. "I want to try that thing we talked about earlier."

"Look," James replied, "no offense to you, but I like my mind as-is right now. I'd prefer you _didn't _go snooping around in there."

"Well, how will you figure things out on your own, then? Do you even know where to start?"

"I'll find a way," James said to her. "Look, if you learn anything, _anything at all _from this whole ordeal, know this; there is _always _a way."

"Wow," Lyra said. "That is deep and wise and a little too cryptic for my taste."

"Yeah," James agreed. "But it's also true."

With that, the two of them continued into the forest, following the path of the river.

"I realize that I've been pretty quiet so far," James eventually said to Lyra. "What do you do, anyway? Do you have any friends or family to speak of? More importantly," he asked, "I want to know why you were in this forest in the first place."

"Well…" Lyra paused. "I thought my cutie mark would let you know what I do."

"Cutie mark, there it is again," James said. "I heard that a few days ago from someone else. What is a cutie mark, anyway?"

"You don't know?" Lyra asked.

"…No, I don't know, could you perhaps explain it to me?"

"Okay, alright, hold your horses."

"Seriously? Hold your _horses?"_

"YES, hold your—oh, never mind. A cutie mark is a marking on a mare or colt's flank," Lyra explained, "that is connected to their biggest talent in life. Once a pony figures out what their talent is, they gain a cutie mark, and that talent remains for as long as that pony lives."

"Huh," James grunted. "Not…much of a life to live if you only have one talent, is it?"

"I didn't say that. I said it's connected to their biggest talent. Typically, they use this talent to their advantage, like getting a job that requires it. That way, they get a job that they enjoy."

"Okay," James said. "So, do they also get their names alongside these 'Cutie Marks'?"

"What?"

"Well, you know, your name's Lyra, right? And, you know, your talent is playing the lyre…"

"Well, n-no…but I guess you're right, that is a funny coincidence." Lyra suddenly looked at him. "Hey, are you _sure _you have nothing else in terms of food?"

James thought for a moment, before rummaging through his jacket to bring out a single apple. "Here," he said, tossing it to her, "that should tide you over."

James noted that, as the apple flew through the sky, an unseen force grabbed it in midair, encompassing it in a shimmering field of energy. This energy field brought the apple to Lyra, who took a bite out of it and chewed contently.

"Telekinesis, huh?" he asked her. "Neat trick. Anything else you can do?"

"Loads of other stuff," Lyra replied between mouthfuls of apple. "There are some unicorns who can work miracles; healing, and barriers, and mind-reading, like the kind I offered to do earlier. Wonderful things!"

There was a long pause.

"And," James finally asked, "perhaps…terrible things?"

Lyra frowned. "I guess so."

James quickly changed the subject. "So, this is…magic?"

Lyra looked at him as though it was a stupid question. "Well, if it isn't," she replied, "then I can't think of any other way to describe it."

Suddenly, James stopped in his tracks. "This is it," he said. "We're here."

They had reached the clearing where James encountered his four pursuers yesterday. It was just as calm and beautiful as it was, but there was something different about it for James; he felt as though at any moment his enemies would be back, and as the two moved through the clearing, he was always on his toes.

"Come on," James said to Lyra. "I'd rather not stay here longer than needed."

However, James had realized that Lyra had stopped in her tracks. Turning around to face Lyra, he expected to see her stopped to take a drink. Instead, he found her looking at a loose sheet of paper, probably blown into the clearing by the wind.

"Uh, Jim…?" she asked. Her tone was unnerving.

"Yeah?"

Lyra turned the paper around so James could get a better look at it. Immediately he saw why she was uneasy. "Should we be worried about this?"

The paper was clearly printed artificially from a press. In the center of the page, an artist's representation of James was drawn in ink. Above and below the picture, words spelled out a clear message;

WANTED

For the Crime of Theft

If spotted, please contact Mayor Mare or your nearest Equestrian Guard outpost.

REWARD PENDING

At the bottom-left corner of the page, a small symbol had been printed; a sun.

"It seems that someone has released a warrant for your…arrest," Lyra observed.

James rolled the paper into a scroll and stuffed it in his pack. He knew that this would eventually come, so it didn't surprise him that his face would be plastered on walls and train stations, welcoming anyone with enough courage, stupidity or insanity to step up and try to capture him.

James stopped dead, however, when he realized what it would mean if Lyra was spotted walking alongside him as though he were her friend. If she were caught with him, it could mean a lot of trouble on her part. She could be arrested as well, questioned about her whereabouts. It was a major tactical risk to keep her around, but it would be risky for her as well if James let her stay.

"Look, Lyra…" James began.

"You can't go any further," Lyra guessed.

"Yes," James confirmed. "It's too dangerous—for the both of us. If you're seen with me, even here, they might try to question you. And I have no idea what lengths your people are willing to go to, but…"

Lyra cut him off. "I don't see why the two of us can't go into town and just talk to whoever's in charge. We can stop whatever this is before it starts!"

"I understand your point," James argued, "but this isn't an arrest warrant. It's a _bounty. _I get the feeling that its purpose is to draw anyone willing to look for me in exchange for a reward, and in my experience—" he paused, "—what little there is, at least—those kind of people can be dangerous."

"I'm not about to just leave you here!" Lyra insisted.

"And I'm afraid that I will give you no choice," James said in response. "You are not a part of this, Lyra, not yet. And I'll be damned if I drag some innocent soul into conflict with me."

Lyra opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of it. The two of them stood there for a long time.

"Town's roughly a couple hours hike from here," James said. "Tell you what—I'll walk you back to the fringe of the forest, and then I'm going to have to go."

"…Okay," Lyra finally relented.

For the next couple of hours, the two of them walked together, their usual small-talk replaced by uncomfortable silence. It felt like an eternity until they finally reached the fringe of the forest, with town roughly 10 yards away. James turned, spear in hand, and went to leave, but was stopped after a few steps when Lyra called him.

"Jim, wait," she said.

James turned and asked, "Yes?"

"Listen," Lyra said to him. "I may not be able to change your mind about going with me to straighten things out, but I can ask you for one favor."

"Shoot," James said.

Lyra visibly struggled for words. "Look, just…stay…stay—"

"Alive?" James suggested.

"…_out there." _

For once, James smiled. "Can do."

Lyra smiled back, and then turned and trotted back into Ponyville without another word. James took a minute to watch her leave the forest safely, then he turned, let out a grim, sad sigh, and trudged off into the Everfree.

He was alone once more.

* * *

><p>As Lyra emerged from the forest and got a good look at her hometown once again, she realized something very important.<p>

"_Omigosh! BON BON! She must be worried sick!"_

Immediately, Lyra was bolting for her house, unaware of the people around her giving strange looks as she passed. However, as she rounded the corner to run down past the Golden Oak Library, she was stopped by a familiar voice calling out to her.

"Lyra! Wait!"

Skittering to a stop and almost tripping into the dirt, Lyra made a hasty 180 degree turn and stopped in her tracks. In front of her, to her relief, was her best friend Bon Bon, standing alongside none other than Twilight Sparkle and the other five Element-Bearers.

"Lyra!" Bon Bon called again. Understandably, she sounded both angry and relieved. "I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been!?"

"Bon Bon! I've been…uh…" Lyra stammered, thinking of a good lie to tell her. "I was…caught up!"

Unfortunately, while Lyra told a good lie, she wasn't a very good liar. What's more, she was also in the company of Applejack, who could sense the lies of the best liar in the world.

"Really?" she asked, obviously not convinced. "An' just how caught up were you? Certainly very much, on account of yer scrapes and bruises."

"Well," Lyra replied hurriedly, "I took a shortcut through the Everfree to get back quicker."

"The Everfree!?" Bon Bon cried. "Why would you go through there? Nopony in their right mind would go in there willingly, not to mention _alone!"_

"Agreed," Twilight said, "that wasn't a good idea and you should be more careful next time. Hey, um, this is going to sound weird," she continued, abruptly changing the subject, "but did you happen to see or notice anything strange while you were in the forest?"

"No!" Lyra answered immediately, a defensive edge in her voice. "I mean, no, I didn't see or hear anything unusual. I just…ended up tumbling down a hill when I took a wrong step, is all."

"Wait," piped up Pinkie Pie, who had popped out of nowhere as she usually did. "Isn't the Everfree full of, y'know, dangerous monsters and stuff? How'd you get through?"

After a brief silence, Twilight spoke up again. "Oh, what does it matter? She's safe, that's all we need to know."

"It matters," Bon Bon insisted. "I want to know."

Lyra managed a fake, polite smile and immediately began to hurriedly usher Bon Bon away. "_Sure," _she said in an 'I'm-totally-not-hiding-something' voice, "I'll tell you about it later, maybe at your place, okay friend? Bye, Twilight!"

Twilight watched the two leave, whispering to one another as they went. Then she turned her attention to her five friends.

* * *

><p>"She was lying," Applejack confirmed.<p>

The six of them had gathered in the middle of the Golden Oak to discuss their 'visitor'. On one hand, Twilight was relieved to know that the creature was alive; she hadn't slept, eaten or spoken to anyone last night, the feeling that she had committed murder making her sick and keeping her up. On the other hand, this creature had just proven how dangerous it could be, and that meant it would pose a greater threat to Equestria if left unchecked.

"Well, duh," Rainbow Dash replied, "_anypony _could see that!"

"So," Pinkie Pie said, cutting the two off before they could argue, "does this mean that we're _all _gonna go out looking for him this time?"

"Ahem," Rarity coughed. "Perhaps first we should tell the newcomer exactly what we're dealing with?"

"Sure," Applejack said. "A gangly loudmouth with a monkey's build and a serious attitude."

"One that we're going to run down," Dash added. "Right Twilight?"

"Look," Twilight replied to her friends' questions. "I know we all have ideas. Some of us even have scores to settle with this…being. However, this does not mean that—"

"Twilight," Dash interrupted. "This _thing _stole from two of us! It _attacked _Lyra!"

"We have no proof that that's what happened!" Twilight argued.

"Yet," Applejack corrected. "But I do know a liar when I see one, and Lyra was bluffing something fierce! I think that this creature robbed her too, and threatened her to keep quiet!"

Twilight frowned at the both of them. The two of them were easily angered by this creature; in fact, they seemed to blur the line between their normal, hot-tempered anger and a rage that seemed out-of-place, even for them. Whatever the reason, this could create a problem, as the creature had evaded them last time by exploiting this anger, as well as the rivalry between them. Twilight wondered if their anger was completely directed at the being from the forest.

"Look," Twilight continued. "I have no intention of jumping to conclusions until I know the facts." She silenced her two protesting friends by adding, "With that being said, I cannot deny that, one way or another, this creature and Lyra's disappearance are connected."

Suddenly, Fluttershy spoke up, and a twinge of guilt passed for a moment in Twilight's mind as she had forgotten she was there. "So…what do we do now?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight turned away from her friends to gaze out a window as she contemplated the idea. "We can't just let this thing run wild," she said, almost to herself. "If Dash and Applejack are right, he could end up hurting himself or anyone around him. So we need to go find him, obviously. What I'm going to propose will be dangerous; I'm not going to risk it unless I have everyone's agreement."

Twilight turned to see her friends' reactions.

"I'm in," Applejack said.

"Count me in too," Dash added.

"Well," Pinkie said, her smile still failing to fade, "if it means getting an apology from this guy, I'll go gladly!"

"I…suppose so," Fluttershy said timidly.

Rarity was the last to consider it, and eventually stated, "Eh. I've nothing better to do."

Twilight smiled. If there was one thing she could count on when nothing else was there, it was the faith of her friends.

"Okay then. Here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

><p>The moon rose high into the sky over the Everfree Forest. Below, a blue-green carpet of trees stretched to the horizon in every direction. Beneath that, there would be nothing but pitch blackness, lit only by periodic streams of eerie pale blue light. Oddly, the forest had fallen silent, the noises of the birds and beasts fading into nothing as the night progressed. Even the wind seemed to have stopped, slipping away to blow across another land far off in the distance. Constellations slid across the blue-black heavens, and individual stars blinked from existence for a split second, only to reappear once more, their ancient beams of light only just reaching this planet after millions of years. Across the sky was a scar of brilliant, cloudy light; the disk-shaped structure of the galaxy viewed from within.<p>

Despite the majestic sight, James shifted uncomfortably on the branch he had perched on to sleep. It wasn't his makeshift cot that disturbed him; it was his current dreams. Now that he was alone again, his thoughts had shifted back to his own problems. He had a feeling that he wasn't alone, not really. It was as though someone was observing him from afar, taking note of his movements and studying his strategy. This presence was felt while he was asleep only a couple days ago; now it felt as though it was watching him now.

'_How many days has it been?' _James thought. He had honestly forgotten about the concept of time. Instead, he wondered what his home was like now. Perhaps he had a family, a loved one, perhaps even children, someone who missed him right now or could even be searching for him. His thoughts suddenly drifted to the dream he had.

'_What do you think it is?'_

One thing was for certain; James knew the person that voice belonged to. In the dream, it was like he was hearing it through water, and he couldn't tell whether it was male or female. But the—

Something caught James's eye. Perhaps it was his paranoid mind, but he saw a blue object streaking through the sky, something much lighter in colour than the night's inky blue shade. At first, James suspected it to be a comet, but the erratic flight path proved him wrong. He regarded it, straining to find out what it was. It was way too far to be seen clearly, nearly a dot on the horizon…

There. A burst of faintly-visible spectrum light as the dot shot down into the trees. Rainbow. James was sure of it. Strangely, she seemed to have come alone to look for him. One thing was for certain, however; if James could see her from this distance, she could definitely see him. Her quick retreat was odd, however. Her intention appeared to be to flush him out. James let out a sigh; there would be no sleep tonight, perhaps for the better. He had to move before whatever plan Rainbow had came to fruition. And so he grabbed his spear, stretched, gave the sky one last glance, and climbed down into the darkness of the forest.


	7. Chapter 7

Rainbow Dash flashed downward into the trees, landing amongst her friends who had hidden in the underbrush. Silently she resented Twilight's part for her; to keep at a distance and lure him in until he was close enough to be caught without another chase. The only comfort she had was that Applejack had a similar role in the plan, which meant that neither of them would be able to go after the creature with impunity. As she dropped down to her hooves, Twilight approached her.

"He saw me," Dash confirmed. "I think my distraction worked, he's headed right for us."

"Good," Twilight said. "All right, that's step one. Now all we need to do is wait. With all of the other monsters roaming the Everfree, I think he'll be caught up with dealing with them. That way, we can mask our approach until we're close enough, at which point we'll capture him and bring him back to Ponyville."

"Question," Pinkie Pie asked. "What if he gets eaten or something? Or, maybe, _we_ get eaten or something?"

"From what I've seen," Twilight assured her friend, "this creature is confrontational and violent. Besides, he's managed to survive the forest this long, which means that he probably has a way to defend himself or elude the monsters. He'll come to us, and if not, we know where he's hiding."

* * *

><p>Under the veil of the trees, James could see nothing, which presented a danger all around him. Until such time as his eyes could adjust, he would be stumbling blindly through the dark, which was why he had climbed down from the treetop he was resting on and was waiting next to the trunk. He knew that Rainbow had come to find him, but since she was more of an aerial fighter, sticking to the dark canopy would mask his approach and keep her at a disadvantage. She'd have to come down here to get to him, braving both the darkness and the tight-knit area. That being said, however, James suspected a trap, and had planned his next move accordingly; spring the trap, on his own terms this time.<p>

When his eyes got used to the low-level light, James began to move as quickly and quietly as possible. All around him he heard noises, the movements of animals and beasts under the brush. He kept his spear close; useless as it would be, it was still his best weapon. James silently promised himself that somehow he would find a weapon better than a tree branch or a mildly pointy stick. With something this old and decrepit, James had only one strategy; stab the opponent, break off the spear tip in the wound and hope the target dies of tetanus or something.

Something moved to his left only a few feet away. Training his spear on the noise, James stopped to get a good bearing of his surroundings. Dark as it was, he could just barely see a few trees in his immediate vicinity. Something was moving at around his height, scrambling through the bushes as it approached him. As it got in close, it began to circle him, like the Cockatrice from before. James cursed silently; if he had another one of those on his hands, he would be forced to flee into the darkness, where he would be vulnerable to the other night-vision-equipped predators. He let his anger surface, his annoyance at whatever was moving around ahead of him.

"I don't have all goddamn night…" James growled.

The creature leapt out at him. At first, James thought that the beast was a wolf of sorts, a very big, brown-furred wolf. This was quickly disproven; indeed, the monster was canine only in appearance. Its 'fur' was instead comprised of rotten, moss-covered timbers, and its twin eyes glowed with a malignant, sickly green light so bright it lit the nearby trees, casting long shadows. Despite the wooden composition of its body, its claws and fangs were still sharp, as while James dodged its feral lunge, he noticed that it could rake across a tree trunk with ease.

The Timber-Wolf landed nearby on all fours, turning to regard James with an echoing, ethereal growl that reverberated through its chest, as though it were hollow. James made an experimental thrust at the creature to see if it would back off. Instead, the wolf leapt again. This time, James brought the spear up into the beast's chest hard enough to snap the blade off in its splintering 'flesh'. The wolf made a noise of pain and anger, but its momentum carried it slamming into James. With James pinned, the creature went to bite down at his throat, only to find James arm caught in between its jaws. Frustrated, the creature whipped its head back and forth, savaging James's arm.

James let out a snarl of anger and retaliated by bringing the spear-shaft's ragged, broken end up into a deadly arc, lancing it through its left eye. The wolf released James's arm, but before it could attempt another attack James began to batter the creature with his fists, splintering its lower jaw with a well-placed haymaker and using the leverage he had to kick the creature off of him with a ghostly yelp. The creature landed with a _crack _against a nearby stone, but James wasn't done. In moments, he was upon the creature, tearing the spear-tip from the hollow gash in its side and bringing it downward in a slashing arc, cutting long, shallow scars into the beast.

The wolf came at him again, swiping at him with its claws. James sidestepped time and again, until the creature finally did what James was waiting for; making a final lunge to bite at him, James brought up the tip of his makeshift knife into the roof of the monster's mouth and through its timber skull. Almost immediately, the creature went slack, the sickly glow of its two eyes winking out and plunging the both of them back into darkness. James yanked out the blade and let the Timber-Wolf slump to the ground with the crunch of dead leaves.

There was no guilt in James as he regarded the driftwood body. It was a construct; living, but not sentient or sapient, without any regard for reason or logic like the other things he faced. It would have killed him given half the chance, and so he killed it in defense. He gave himself only a moment to ponder this choice before examining his wounds. The cut on his arm was not of much danger, as his jacket, while torn in some places, had absorbed most of the attack. Still, it would be better to get it bandaged before infection set in. A thought crossed his mind; there could be viruses and illnesses that his race had never heard of here. He forced the thought down before inspecting his weapon. Interestingly, the spear-tip had weathered the fight, and seemed to be unbroken. The shaft was useless, however, and James left it behind.

However, as his path continued, James heard rustling nearby. More wolves. Instinctively, he turned the spear-tip around in his palm to point downward. A part of his mind, perhaps a resurgent personality trait, perhaps one he had just gained, was expecting, ready, and willing to fight.

* * *

><p>For almost twenty minutes, nothing came from the forest. No animals, no sounds, no tall-thieving-wisecracking-creatures.<p>

And then the howling started.

Applejack scowled. "Timberwolves," she said. "Glad I'm not that creature right now."

"Hmph," Dash replied. "Serves him right for trying to hide from us here."

Twilight let the comment wash over her. On one hoof, this creature was obviously capable of surviving on its own in an environment like this. Yet on the other hoof, it sounded like the guy was getting swarmed; there was no way he could hold out long, and if there was one thing Twilight didn't want, it was to see the creature dead once again. The Timberwolves had provided the distraction they needed; it was time to move.

"Come on," Twilight said to her friends. "This is what we've been waiting for."

And so the six of them took advantage of the situation to sneak through the forest unseen, quietly sneaking up in order to catch the creature off-guard. The howling they heard earlier soon gave way to snarls, growls and yelps as the Timberwolf pack and the creature fought one another. Eventually, they finally located the source of the fight, and it was a surprise to see who was winning; the creature was standing at the centre of a tiny gap amongst the trees, holding a thrashing Timberwolf at bay with his arms and with another wolf's neck planted firmly beneath his boot. Another two circled him in an attempt to attack from behind, and three more lay unmoving nearby.

Twisting on his heel, and with the wolves still in his arms and under his foot, the creature twisted his body to throw the wolf in his arms at a pouncing monster. The two of them were dashed together while a third leapt at him at the same time. The creature responded by whipping out a metal object faster than Twilight could watch, and plunging it into the Timberwolf's wooden belly; he then threw it over his shoulder to impact against a tree trunk. Twilight risked a glance at Fluttershy. Her friend, being at peace with every living forest-dweller, looked visibly pained to watch as the green glow in the wolf's eyes flickered briefly, then went out.

The wolf beneath the creature's foot finally broke free, retreating as the creature swiped at it with what appeared to be a rusty dagger. Meanwhile, the other two wolves had recuperated from their fall, and the three now flanked the creature on either side. The creature was standing with his back to Twilight and her friends.

'_Alright,' _Twilight thought. _'This fight has gone on long enough.'_

* * *

><p>James backed up, moving away from the three closing Timber-Wolves. A feeling had come over him; a strange, funny, <em>amazing <em>feeling, like his whole body, his muscles, nerves and mind had synchronized. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, excitement, and the thrill of a good fight. This James felt, no matter how much his morals told him it was wrong to. The three remaining wolves advanced on him…

…And with a blast of light, they were batted aside by lances of witch-fire. Two of the wolves hurtled yelping into the woods, where they could clearly be heard scampering to their feet and running away. The remaining one, now seeing that it was outnumbered and outgunned, turned and scurried away whimpering.

James turned a 180 towards the immediate threat, and backed off until he felt a solid wall behind him. Risking a glance at the wall, he saw that it was a barrier of pure light and energy in a familiar purple hue.

This time, there was no warning.

Applejack's rope shot out at him, and James ducked under it before responding in the way he knew they would least expect; by charging right at them, knife drawn, and roaring out a war cry that reverberated through the trees, causing sleeping birds and bats to scatter into the night sky, some of them swarming into the woods between the foliage.

"Scatter!" James could hear Twilight bark as he barreled into the bushes. His gambit worked; the group did as Twilight asked, showing James their exact number, position and movement, and parting in two different directions, allowing James to move past them. What he didn't count on, however, was the darkness, which clouded his sight and made fighting off six opponents very difficult. The good news was that it would work just the same on them, although he was alone and without reinforcements.

A flash of bright, light blue energy lashed out and sheared past James's shoulder, missing him by inches. Instinctively, he responded in kind by swiping at the new threat with his blade, withdrawing after hearing a strangled, pained yelp from a voice he couldn't identify. Turning to focus on another noise approaching him loud and fast, James launched a brutal kick into another mare, who sounded a winded _"oof!" _before tumbling past him. An opening presented itself, and with it, James bolted into the inky blackness of the forest. As he sprinted full-tilt through the blinding, clinging shadows, he could hear the enraged yells of his six pursuers, one of them in particular.

* * *

><p>"KEEP RUNNING!" Dash roared into the forest. "It won't matter—YOU'VE GONE AS FAR AS YOU'RE GONNA GO! DO YOU HEAR ME!?"<p>

Twilight was too busy checking out Rarity and Applejack to care about Dash's ineffectual threats. Both of them were relatively unharmed; Applejack was winded and struggling to gasp for air, but she was otherwise okay, especially since she sustained a sharp kick that probably could have broken her ribs. Rarity was equally fortunate, as the creature had struck out with his dagger and only managed to open up a small nick on her left ear. It was more out of startled surprise than injury that drove her off.

For once, Twilight's anger rose. This creature was not only eluding them at every turn, he was actively trying to hurt her and everyone she cared for. Now, Dash and Applejack's accusations of this creature hurting Lyra felt much more justified.

Suddenly, a call from Pinkie Pie brought her out of her own head.

"Rainbow, wait!" she called.

'_Oh, come _on!' Twilight thought. _'Do I seriously have to keep my eyes on you like a foal-sitter, you reckless, arrogant-?!'_

Twilight's train of thought stopped dead. _'Whoa. What did I just say to myself?'_

She shook her head to snap herself out of the uncharacteristically angry outburst before turning to regard the problem.

"—what I should have done in the first place!" Dash snapped. "I'm gonna go CATCH this thing!"

Twilight didn't even get the chance to talk Dash out of it; she burst up into the sky and shot into the night with a sound-breaking _bang._

The wind whistled through Dash's ears as she thundered through the sky. She could see a path of fleeing birds as she passed over the trees, the path of the creature's retreat.

'_That's it, you just keep running and hiding,' _Dash thought furiously. _'Ten seconds flat and I'll have you. Ten. Seconds. _Flat. _One…'_

Dash dropped into the trees and zipped through the underbrush, a shooting cyan star in the infinite darkness.

'_Two…'_

She ducked and weaved through branches and vines, thickets and spiderwebs. No mere plant was going to stop her.

'_Three…'_

Bats flew into her path as she streaked past.

'_Four…'_

The world became a blur.

'_Five…'_

Suddenly, her target came into sight. He didn't even notice her creeping up behind him.

'_Six…'_

She watched the creature make it's futile escape; sliding under fallen trees, diving through brambles, leaping over boulders in one jump. Admittedly talented, but not effective in the slightest. Not against her.

'_Seven…'_

Her quarry got closer…

'_Eight…'_

…And closer…

'_Nine…'_

The creature was right where she wanted him to be. He was _so close _to her, she could smell the dirt on his back. Dash tucked in her wings and extended her arms to tackle the creature from behind.

'_TEN!'_

Suddenly, the world was brought back into view. The trees surrounded her, but she wasn't on the ground like she expected. Worse still, she didn't see the creature pinned beneath her; instead, he had stopped in his tracks, his expression going from shock to an amused smile. Dash looked around and tried to move, but realized that she couldn't. Without paying attention, she had flown straight into a tree whose trunk branched out into a Y-shape.

And now she was stuck.

* * *

><p>James looked at the trapped Rainbow as she tried to break free of her predicament with a stupid smile on his face.<p>

And then he started to laugh. He started to laugh like a goddamned _stoned hyena._

"Oh, Rainbow!" James gasped between bouts of laughter. "What's wrong? Did your _fat ass _get stuck while you were chasing me?

Rainbow responded with an enraged scream as she raked her hooves across the tree trunk.

"Man," James continued. "This must be _embarrassing. _You know, I feel like I should be sorry for your current problem, but, since you guys tried to hunt me down and then posted a _bounty on my head…" _James half-cocked another smile. "It just feels _oh so satisfying _to watch you squirming there."

Rainbow thrashed in her bonds, swiping or reaching out at James with her hooves while spouting threats and insults. James could see the murderous glinting in her red-purple eyes as she strained to attack him.

"This is like trying to watch a three-legged puppy try to get up on the couch," James observed. "He's just so adorable, and your heart goes out to him, but his little arms just _can't reach!"_

At this point, Rainbow had stopped struggling and was hanging from the tree, staring at James from under her brow and bangs and making sharp breaths that misted in the air. Her gums were peeled back from her teeth, showing an almost predatory expression of hatred.

"One day," she growled at him behind gritting teeth. "One day I'm going to get you and you will regret it. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, _Equestria itself as my witness, you WILL REGRET IT."_

"Maybe one day," James said. "But not today. Here, how's about I make it _that much more personal _so you can call me by name the next time you try to follow up with that threat."

With that, James walked to the right side of the tree where Rainbow couldn't reach him and used his spear-tip knife to carve a message in the bark. When he completed the message, he returned to Rainbow to taunt her one last time.

"Bye, Rainbow," James said to her in a mockingly nice tone. "Oh, and, just so you know; being an obscenely fast, cocky flier…I expected _more _from you."

This caused Rainbow to re-double her efforts to break free with renewed anger. James left her there, thrashing and raging alone, and proceeded to head up towards what he assumed was north. About twenty minutes later, her friends would find her in the exact state James left her in, kicking and screaming with rage, and would find a message alongside her, with an arrow pointing towards where Dash was trapped…

I WAS CAUGHT BY JAMES LIKE THE FAILURE I AM.


	8. Chapter 8

A pair of eyes, primordial and all-seeing, stared out from the darkness. Like a pair of blazing white stars, they did not move, rooted to the seemingly infinite blackness that lay beyond.

This time, a voice spoke alongside them.

**This is an interesting development, is it not? **The voice boomed, accompanied by a grating metallic static, like a thousand swords being scraped across stone. **The disciple has failed. My plan continues to stay in motion.**

The eyes, still unmoving, were joined by another two blazing white lights, which bobbed and darted around erratically.

**In motion, **a second voice parroted, like the roiling flame of a furnace. **The clockwork of the cosmos.**

Suddenly, the blackness gave way to brilliant color. Life was made where once was void. The scene was familiar; the bright, small houses and cottages of Ponyville.

**I have made great plans for your world, **said the thing. **The disciples will bicker and argue among themselves. They will think this event a freak accident until it is far too late.**

Before the two pairs of eyes, the scene took on a new, terrifying form; Ponyville was burning, its citizens running for cover from a fate they could never truly escape.

**Too late to save them, **the second voice added in a mocking tone.

The scene changed again and again, each one taking on a perverse form of a familiar place. Canterlot in dust-clouded ruins, The Everfree littered with the bones and armor of Royal Guardsmen, the Crystal Empire reduced to shattered shards, Cloudsdale crashing out of the sky, ablaze with fire.

**Not even you can defy what has come, **the voice said.

**And it **_**will **_**come, **the second voice promised.

There was a sudden flash of images; storms raging across the world, pony armies clashing. And then the moon burst, the stars fell from the sky, and the sun went out, plunging everything back into darkness. Everything except the pair of horrible white lights.

**Tell me, **it asked with a malicious tone.

**Are you afraid?**

The darkness came around, wrapping around the neck with a strangling grip. There was choking, struggling, a strangled cry for help…

* * *

><p>…And Celestia woke with a start.<p>

_Another _nightmare. Almost every night, the same one came to her, but there was never any speaking before. Each one showed the same things, Equestria in ruins and chaos, but beyond that, there was no further explanation until now.

For the past few days, Celestia had been receiving letters from her trusted friend and student, Twilight Sparkle. About two weeks ago, she had begun to send letters that strayed from her usual lessons; letters voicing her concern over a strange creature, with her letters growing progressively worse over time, saying that the creature was stealing from her friends and evading their attempts to capture or speak with him. This odd being was, as she had described to the best of her ability, 'rude, athletic and quick to confrontation', and above all, unlike any other creature she had seen. It would have made sense to have the dreams start back when it had arrived, but no, they had to go on for about a week beforehoof. Worse still, her most recent letters stated that she had lost the creature in the Everfree, it having disappeared and seemingly gone into hiding, with no sightings coming in even after Celestia had, at Twilight's request and Mayor Mare's agreement, released a warrant for his arrest.

Celestia made a tired groan and rolled out of bed. It was still dark out, and in checking her clock she realized that she was two minutes behind schedule, still a reasonable enough delay. Stumbling over through the dark to her window, she moved the drapes aside with a gentle brush of golden energy. Celestia focused on the horizon, imagining a tether to the gaseous globe of light beyond the edge of the sky.

'_Gaseous globe,' _she thought to take her mind off the exertion as she mustered all her strength to lift the billion-tonne object. _'Gaseous galactic globe… Gaseous galactic glowing globe in the great glaring dark. Gaseous galactic glowing globe in the great glaring dark, giving good golden lights for the gloomy glades and glowering masses below.'_

Before Celestia was aware of it, the sun was blazing bright in the sky, searing her eyeballs and brightening the land. With her primary task of the day done, she closed the drapes and turned away. Perhaps some tea and a long day of work would drown out the nightmare. Of course, this was most likely wishful thinking.

One way or another, Celestia had the feeling that these events would reach a boiling point. And she needed to stop that from happening.

* * *

><p>'<em>Where are you?'<em>

Twilight examined a map of the Everfree closely to see where this 'James' fellow could hide. It was a taxing, tiresome job, but it was the only way she could find a way to pin him down short of employing pegasi to sweep the area, something she wasn't prepared to do just yet. Besides, the thought of dragging more ponies into this incident made her nervous; there were so many things that could go wrong on so many levels.

It had been about 14 days since she had seen him last, fleeing into the forest with Rainbow Dash in hot pursuit. Whatever had transpired, Twilight and her friends found Rainbow stuck in a forked tree, yelling threats and insults and struggling to get free for all she was worth. James seemed to have a sick talent for getting under Dash's skin, as she was highly unreasonable once she was freed, refusing to give up the chase and nearly forcing Twilight to forcibly restrain her and bring her back to Ponyville. Twilight thanked Celestia it didn't come down to that; Dash had luckily been calmed down enough to return with them willingly, although she was still extremely angry and bitter over the confrontation. Evidently, James had openly mocked her while she was helpless, carving a message into the tree to humiliate her. It was a tactic to make things personal, but the question was, why? If James's desire was to escape from them, why would he make an enemy of Dash?

'_Forget it,' _Twilight thought. _'I have much better things to do than search for some escaped felon. I just hope that Dash has the same idea. Besides, if you ever come back to my town, trust me, you'll have six specific opponents waiting to welcome you.'_

That thought brought back something to the front of Twilight's mind that she had meant to forget. During their last encounter, when James took off and Dash went after him, Twilight had an outburst in her head, something she felt was highly mean-spirited. Dash may have been reckless, and could be prideful at times, but Twilight never considered those traits to be worthy of having someone foal-sit her. In fact, everyone who had prolonged contact with James had started to act oddly; Applejack and Rainbow were both growing increasingly enraged, Lyra had grown secretive about her incident to pretty much anyone aside from Bon Bon, and even Twilight was beginning to grow bitter over the creature's successful escape attempts.

Was this James's doing? Did he have some sort of power that, known to him or not, caused the people around him to become violent or paranoid? Or perhaps…perhaps something _else _was responsible. Twilight's heart sank as she realized that it would make sense; James was a creature that was never seen before because his type of creature _never existed here. _For all anyone knew, he could very well have been sent by some other malign presence for a much darker purpose. Whether James knew that he was serving some evil power or not was thus far uncertain, however.

Twilight sighed. There was work to be done here and now, and it didn't help that she had spent the entire night awake and combing maps and archives for information. Besides, there was nothing she could do at this point; James had vanished, slipping into the forest and remaining unseen. On one hoof, this could mean he was keeping his distance in order to stay out of trouble, but one another hoof, he could very well be preparing for another raid. As much as she despised wasting her spare time looking for some public nuisance, she had little other choice; James was connected to something bigger than everyone involved, and Twilight was going to find out what and why one way or another.

* * *

><p>On a ledge overlooking the barren sheet of brown and grey, James surveyed the landscape from his viewpoint. His previous escape had seen him gain roughly two weeks of respite, time enough to move further and further away from Ponyville. During that time, the days he spent moving were relatively, nerve-rackingly uneventful; he would awaken, climb down from his treetop cot into the forest, Find breakfast (usually in the form of some edible berries or the occasional bird or fish), and from then on it was move without pause save for an hour-long break in a clearing or by a stream. Within three days, James had left the darkness and the monsters of the Everfree behind, save for whatever roving packs of beasts that moved here to hunt without competition. Gradually, the trees had given way to plains, where James had to keep a constant eye on the skies. No fires were lit during this time, and there was nowhere to hide or protect from the rain. Finally, these plains gave way to rough, rocky terrain. It is here that James found himself now.<p>

James actually preferred this area to the forest; the rocks and cliffs provided an endless array of hiding-places, and the mere fact that it was nothing but stone for miles around made it near impossible for anyone to track him so long as he was careful. In addition, it was far from inhospitable, as lizards and the occasional bug had been James's diet for the past day and a half. From his perch on this specific cliff, James could see everything for several clicks before him, including a treeline, more plains and, dominating it all, a massive mountain, stretching into the atmosphere like a pillar to hold up the moon.

That would be his next stop. It looked to be roughly two day's travel from the place he was in, and it would be over plains and foothills, not his kind of terrain. Nonetheless, he had to make the trip; after all, he could only live here for so long until someone found him. James took out his makeshift knife, which he had taken to hiding in his jacket. The weapon had held up much better than he had expected, holding its own against tough wooden beasts. He examined the small details of the blade carefully; the small, broken handle which James had wrapped in a length of grass, the scratched, notched leaf-shaped blade, the deposits of rust and lime scale. It had none of its past elegance, no identity to call its own. Left alone for god-knows-how-long until all memory of its past life had been removed.

Not very unlike James.

James slipped the knife back into his jacket and rose from his spot. His hour was up. He needed to move on and fast, for if he lingered here for more than a few days a patrol of authorities would find him. Surely his bounty would have been determined by now, and there would be a lot of people out there who would be after him, no matter if they were bounty hunters or local law enforcement. Besides, it was early in the morning, the sun just beginning to peek over the mountains to the north. James felt that this would be the best time to move, as most of the lowlands would be covered in darkness. With that in mind, he slid down the filthy slope and began his trek.

* * *

><p>From afar, a white-coated colt watched as the tall, slender silhouette slid down the dirt hill and disappear into the darkness of the dawn. He shifted uncomfortably; he certainly felt the absence of his armour, the lack of weight and the irritation from the wet linen cloak he wore in its place. He assumed that his younger partner felt equally uncomfortable.<p>

"That's him?" his partner asked.

"It is," the colt confirmed.

"Well, good, let's go get him," the partner said eagerly. The older colt frowned. He disliked the younger one's overeager urge to capture this creature; he personally found it a reckless move.

"We were given orders to spot him," the older colt said. "Now we have, and now we know where he is, and we know where he's going. That will suffice for now. Come on, the sooner we get back to the palace to tell the Princess, the better. This cloak is making me itch."

With their new information, the two of them turned and trotted away side by side. In a few hours' time, when they were both out of sight, they would take to the skies, return to Canterlot, and inform the Princess that they would soon have a visitor.

* * *

><p>From the rocky area, James made a path through the hills and valleys of the green plains. The landscape took on a quiet, almost boring serenity as he progressed further towards the great mountain. Across the land, there was nothing but sun and clouds as far as the eye could see, a blanket of bright green made black in patches whenever the clouds rolled by. Boulders dotted the landscape, dominating the untamed wilderness. This James could certainly remember was not a trait his home shared. The boulders were lucky for him; multiple times, he found major pathways and roads, and he had to hide to avoid being seen by travelers.<p>

There was no stopping in these first hours.

For his journey, James moved with haste and without pause, taking every precaution he could to stay unseen. His travels took him far in just one day; flat land turned to foothills, then foothills to highlands, and the highland grass gave way to stone and rock once more. In the night, he would hide under stones and sleep without lighting a fire. No danger came to him, and when day came once more he took up the march again without a word. Rains fell more frequently, turning the land grey and soaking him to the skin, even through his heavy jacket. And surely enough, at a swift pace and without pause for rest, food or water during daylight hours, James finally found that he was once again amongst the trees of another forest.

Once more at home in the heavy air and protection of the forest, James was free to rest. And rest he did; for a full day he did nothing but hunt for food and sleep to replenish his strength. The journey had taken its toll on him, yet he took a small amount of time to take pride for his accomplishment. Two days of relentless marching towards this mountain, and he had finally drawn close. Well, really, it was two and a half, but the only one who cared to count was himself.

That night, James dropped off to sleep as he sat in a tree, contemplating the stars…or something. Honestly, he couldn't remember what he was thinking the following morning. All he could remember was what he had already learned, and the dream that plagued his sleep.

* * *

><p>Once more, James found himself dreaming of being watched. A pair of ethereal eyes, like the very stars he watched, were staring out from the darkness. What James didn't expect, however, was a voice that spoke from everywhere and nowhere at once.<p>

**You have done well, James Alistair.**

James responded by attempting to speak, but found that he could not. That being said, it didn't stop the thing from hearing him.

**You wish to know who I am, **it said. **Be patient; all will be revealed, in due time.**

**In due time, **said another voice that startled James further. **It will be ended in due time. The clockwork of the cosmos.**

From the darkness, another pair of blaring white lights blazed into existence.

**Your problem is our solution, **the second voice continued. **We have seen your past, we watch your present, and we will write your future.**

_Like hell, _James wanted to reply.

**Hrm, **the first voice grunted. **You do not wish to obey? Your defiance is your defining trait, human, **it warned.** If you do not watch it closely, it may very well be your **_**downfall.**_

Somehow, without speaking, James willed a response from the corners of his mind. _You don't think I already know that? _He asked. _I'm facing beings beyond my ability to fight. I'm alone, outmanned and outgunned on, like, a million-to-one margin. I have no memory of how I got here, but at least I now know who sent me in the first place. And I also know that I cannot ultimately win._

**And yet, **the second voice replied, **you can do nothing to change your inevitable defeat.**

_I can try, _James said.

The voices did not answer for what seemed like an eternity. And then the first voice spoke.

**Enough. This impudence greatly distresses us. You will aid us in our task, fleshling, whether you are aware of it or not.**

A feeling overcame James at that point, like someone knocking him out, and suddenly he was forced into consciousness.

* * *

><p>For the next hour James tried to make sense of the voices' words.<p>

'_Your problem is our solution' _one of them had said. It was clearly telling James that it had sent him here at the start of all this, but the part about him being their solution confused him. And what was that stuff about the 'clockwork of the cosmos'? Did this thing, whatever it—they—were, want to destroy the universe or something? Well, whatever it wanted, it wasn't going to get; James was bent on returning home, to his people. For all he knew, he was a king there. Now, _that _would be a happy ending after all this trouble!

James walked along his own path, over fallen logs and mossy stones, until he finally came across a wall so great it obstructed his vision. He had made it to the foot of the mountain. James grasped up sand and dirt from the moist ground, and rubbed it against his hands.

It was going to be a grueling climb.


	9. Chapter 9

The clouds passing by the mountain created a thick, blinding fog for James to climb through. It was dangerous, to say the least; with the clouds obscuring his vision, it would be difficult to find a good handhold. Needless to say, James was also doing this without any climbing gear, so any mistake would be his last. There were times when he tested his endurance by hanging on for minutes on end while a break in the clouds passed by. It had gotten to the point where James had forgotten how long he was climbing for, the fact that it was getting darker and colder and harder to breathe the only indication that he was making progress over hours of time. Only the urgent need for survival forced his limbs to carry him upwards.

Finally, James came across a ledge and pulled himself up. His arms ached from the strain of climbing, and he was short of breath in the thin air of the mountain. Resting against a rock that jutted from the ground, James let precious time slip away as he caught his breath and lay prone. When he felt rested enough to continue, he turned to walk to the next cliff…and found that the ground beneath his feet was grass and dirt rather than solid stone. James knelt down to investigate, and even through the cloud-fog he could see the telltale patterns of hooves and wheels.

A path! James let out a groan of exasperation. He had done all that climbing, risked falling to his death more times than he could count, and there was a goddamn _road _the entire time!?

'_Some things just exist for your misery,' _James thought. _'At least I found this road now and didn't end up looking down on it from the summit.'_

James rose from his spot, and began to stagger in the direction it was heading. Eventually, he found himself able to walk normally, and even the fog generated by the clouds lessened to nothing. The path led him onwards, spiraling upward for what seemed like forever. And yet it felt like the air was getting thicker rather than thinner; it was getting progressively easier to breathe, and soon James felt like he could run again. More strange effects of the world itself, he supposed. Either that, or the lack of oxygen was making him hallucinate.

By the time he reached the end of the path, the moon was rising into the sky, a silver crescent hanging on a curtain of blue over blackness, casting a pale light over the mountaintop. Below, James could see everything; the cloud layer rolled across the sky underneath him, turning the world into a mosaic. Where the clouds parted, James could see his entire path to this place, including the plains he moved through to get here, the forest in which he first arrived and the Everfree nearby. He could even see the faint lights of Ponyville from the mountain, alongside a host of other, interesting sights; a few other towns scattered around the area, what appeared to be a railroad track, and on the horizon, several more mountains that peeked over the clouds. And then a specific sight caught James's eye.

James took note of one of the exceptionally large clouds, which appeared to be swarming with flying creatures. It took James a moment to realize that these were pegasi, and that they seemed to be pushing the cloud along. James looked around and, sure enough, the other clouds had pegasi pushing them too; huge groups of them towing along the large clouds while single ones moved around the smaller ones. Suddenly it occurred to him; _this _was how the weather worked in this place. The pegasi moved the clouds over the intended spot, and presumably brought rain and storms to the land. With that kind of power, the ponies could easily create a renewable source of water, able to be distributed anywhere, including farms, which would give the people a highly sustainable, if not infinite, source of food. And just like that, James was thankful that he didn't encounter one of these 'cloud-movers' while he was climbing earlier.

James took note of this information, as it could come in very handy later. And then he continued his climb. For about ten minutes James encountered nothing, no ponies or buildings. However, the road had to lead somewhere, even if it was just some isolated shrine or monastery. Finally, James crested an elevation and saw something that surprised him, which was really saying something at this point.

'_Okay,' _he thought. _'Now I _know _the lack of oxygen is making me hallucinate.'_

In front of James was a city, built into the side of the mountain. Where Ponyville had a more rustic look, this one was massive, elegant, and baroque; spires and towers climbed higher into the sky, linked by arches and branching out into flying buttresses. From what James could see, the city seemed to stretch out beyond the boundaries of the cliff it was built on, and was most likely built into the rock, perhaps for miles below. Dominating the city was a massive castle, seemingly equal parts fortress, palace and embassy. At the edge of the road, a few yards away, was a wooden sign that read 'WELCOME TO CANTERLOT'.

It was then that James found out that there was a banner nearby that had a very similar symbol on them. The banner had a speckle of stars across a light blue field, at the center of which were two circling creatures that James couldn't quite make out. Upon closer inspection, James found them to be horses, actual horses and not ponies, which appeared to have both wings and horns. One of them was white with a cyan mane and tail, the other blue with a purple mane and tail. Those features, while definitely worth remembering, were not quite as important to James at that point. What did matter to him were the two symbols at the exact center. He pulled from his pack the bounty paper from earlier. Sure enough, above a stylized representation of the moon, was a marking of a golden sun; the same marking as the one on the paper. James turned to take a closer look at Canterlot and found what looked like the same banner all over the place. It was the seal of some kind of government entity, perhaps even a royal.

James was lucky it was dark, because he had stumbled onto this kingdom's capital city.

* * *

><p>Sneaking through the darkness on a rooftop, James looked out over the Canterlot streets at the palace in the distance. Extra cautionary measures had to be taken to make sure that he was unseen; this time, it seemed, James was no longer facing civilians, but some sort of army troops or guards. With their stark-white coats and gold armour trimmed with solid blue plumes, the pegasi soldiers looked identical to one another. James assumed this was some sort of genetic strategy, essentially breeding the strongest and fastest draft horses for the specific purpose of protecting the common folk. His every instinct told him that sneaking past the sentries and slipping into the city to find out who their leader is was a bad idea, as so much could go wrong in so many different ways. James repressed those instincts.<p>

He had to know. And besides, if he was caught, even imprisoned, there would always be a way out.

James made sure that no-one was looking, then clambered down a drain pipe into a dark alleyway. Coming as close to the edge as he could without stepping into the light, he crouched in the shadows to observe the activity on the main street. For the most part, it seemed that only the wealthy lived in this city, judging by the fact that a lot of them looked better dressed and generally gave off an air of pompous arrogance. A hot feeling rose in James's gut; for some reason that he couldn't quite place his finger on, he felt an anger towards these people in particular.

Foot traffic was too thick in this city for James to move around unnoticed, even in the dead of night. He slipped back towards the other end of the alley and looked around, finding backstreets branching out. He was lucky that the people weren't smart enough to light up these hidden areas, as he managed to sneak past without resistance. Eventually, he came upon the palace itself… and found that it was heavily guarded. James found that problematic; he needed to get in there without tripping any alarms, because if he so much as gave the guards a ghost of a sighting, they would be on full alert and his chance to get the information and supplies he needed would be lost. Somehow, James knew that the presence he felt in his dreams was here, he could feel it. And he had to find it, confront it, and if possible, destroy it.

But first he needed a weapon; an _actual _weapon with a sharp, well-maintained edge. And the castle-like palace was the most logical place to look for an armory of sorts. James examined the massive structure. It was all over the place architecturally, nearly half of the building hanging off the edge of the mountain and spiralling into the sky with its myriad of towers. A river flowing from even higher up on the mountain and pooling into a small lake acted as a moat, and the gatehouse lay beyond. James ruled out the front door as an entrance immediately, and searched around for an alternate route that would draw less attention. Scanning the castle with his eyes as carefully as he could, James eventually found a large tree standing right next to a relatively low wall. He could swim through the lake to mask his approach and climb the tree to get inside.

Whatever his plan was, he had to do it quick, while he had the night on his side. James moved quickly across the open ground, then quickly but carefully eased himself into the waters of the small lake, then took a deep breath and dived downward. The combination of shadow and water made him invisible to the naked eye, which meant that his approach went unnoticed. Once he ended up on the other side James kept to the wall until he reached the towering pine tree that would serve as his ladder. Waiting only for a few moments to shake the water off of him and stop the dripping, James ascended slowly and surely, stopping short of the top of the wall to make sure that a guard wasn't patrolling that particular area.

Two soldiers that looked no different from the rest passed by, either unaware that James was hiding below them or unobservant enough not to notice. The two of them made light conversation as they made their rounds.

"…Anyway," one of them said, "as long as we get a decent pay for this snooze-fest."

"It's an important job," the other chastised. "Nobody said it'd be exciting."

"Look, all's I'm saying is, why do they even _need _protection? I think that it's a little excessive to keep an armed retinue when you can _move the stars."_

'_Move the stars?' _James thought. _'What kind of things am I dealing with?'_

"And all _I'm _saying is that if you ask too many questions like that, you'll find yourself back at the boot-camp," the second guard was saying. "Now come on. I don't like being out here."

"Aw, what's the matter?" the first guard teased. "You afraid of the _boogieman? _Scared that thing Feather Wind saw making a beeline for Canterlot will get you?'

"No, I'm scared that it'll get _you, _your cockiness. Now let's move, our shift is almost over."

The two guards' voices faded away until James could no longer hear them, and that's when he climbed further up the tree and dropped down onto the wall from a high branch. As luck would have it, he wasn't spotted. But it was the idle small-talk between the two that got his attention. Not that he didn't already know it, but he was being monitored, and they knew he was coming here. That meant only one thing; yet another trap.

'_Well, well,' _James thought. _'How quickly word travels around here. And I get the feeling that it isn't coincidental.'_

* * *

><p>After finding an unlocked window to sneak through, James was finally in the vast palace. The area was relatively dark, the moon providing most of the natural light and luckily casting long, solid, deep black shadows all over the place. Here and there, a candle or torch would be lit, testament to the vigilance of the soldiers guarding the castle. In a place this big, James could only figure that there were plenty of patrols keeping watch over it. What's more, they were most likely waiting specifically for him.<p>

All the more reason to stay sharp.

With his relatively dark clothes on, James was very well hidden as long as he kept to the shadows. He kept reminding himself that the darkness was his friend, and that he could very well be able to sneak past anyone, even if they were a few feet away. As he continued through the corridors and rooms in the labyrinthine fortress, he would occasionally hear the chatter of guard-ponies; mostly meaningless talk about pay-grades, beautiful mares, rivalries and other such nonsense. However, James would occasionally get small bits of information, like guard shift times and routes. This allowed him to plan accordingly.

What made James worry the most was the noise he was making. The floor was made of either stone or wood, which meant that James's boots made a soft clicking sound if he needed to move faster than a slow crawl. He had no idea how well the ponies could hear, but he wasn't about to take any chances. Suddenly, James's thoughts turned to the place he was now. James had wandered into a vast library; surrounding him were shelves towering high up, almost to the ceiling, with every inch of the space taken up by books of every shape and size; paperbacks, leather-bound journals and tomes, doorstop-sized dictionaries, thesauruses, spellbooks, cooking recipes, and piled up scrolls. James even found a stone tablet among the dusty records as he searched through them, into which was carved some kind of primitive yet beautiful bas-relief and a series of hieroglyph-like characters that James didn't take the time to try to decipher.

As he progressed through the archive, James became suddenly aware of someone in the room; specifically, he went to turn a corner and found a guard-pony standing right there, facing away from him. James moved back, creeping into the shadows to hide…

* * *

><p>…And Feather Wind froze, more like a deer rather than a horse.<p>

Something had moved to his left in his peripheral vision, right in the corner of his eye. It was too dark to see what exactly it was, but he had a few guesses. He risked a glance at the bookshelf beyond, but whatever was hiding there had vanished.

"Dusk?" Feather Wind said quietly, referring to his partner, Dusk Helm. He was prone to pulling pranks like this to have him jumping at shadows, but Feather Wind wasn't easily frightened.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm hurrying," Dusk replied loudly and carelessly, making Feather wish that he was paired with a tired old fart instead of a young-blooded rookie. At least the old fart would take his job seriously. As his friend rounded the corner, to his right, no less, Feather regarded him with a cold stare.

"Were you sneaking around behind me?" he asked his partner.

"What? No," Dusk replied. "Why would you—"

"Because I just saw something move behind me," Feather replied. "Get my flank."

Feather grabbed the gilded spear he had leaned against the shelf after a few tries, lowered it in one hoof and slowly advanced to where he thought he had seen the movement. He didn't look to see if Dusk Helm was following his lead. When he was a few feet from the corner, he hopped around the bend to take the interloper by surprise, using his wings to propel himself forward. When he landed, he angled the spear towards…nothing.

"Good going, Feather," his partner teased lightheartedly. "You really got the drop on those _dust bunnies."_

For a second, Feather believed that Dusk was right. He felt stupid for acting suspicious of his own mind playing tricks on him.

But only for a second.

Dusk suddenly made a startled sound that he suppressed into a strangled yelp. Immediately, Feather whipped his head to where Dusk's gaze was pointed and saw why he was alarmed.

Above them, clinging to the side of the bookshelf, was the creature. Without any warning, it leapt down from its perch, landing right beside them, and hit the ground sprinting. It ran into a side corridor and eventually disappeared into the darkness.

And a split-second later, Feather Wind and Dusk Helm were after it.

* * *

><p>James whipped corners and dashed down halls, making it as hard for his pursuers to capture him as possible. He honestly didn't know how far he would get before someone else joined in the fun, but he needed his escape more than he needed caution at this point.<p>

James rounded a corner and came across an unlocked door. Slipping inside, he closed the door behind him and found a dead end. This was some kind of storage closet; barrels, chests and boxes lined the area, but there was nowhere to go. James turned around, but heard muffled voices approaching. He immediately checked his surroundings for options; no rafters above, no space behind the storage boxes, no room in the barrels. James opened up a huge trunk and his luck finally hit him, as it was empty save for a few scrap papers. James curled up inside, closed the lid, and put his eye up to the tiny crack.

And then the door opened.

"Where'd that thing go?" A voice whispered.

"You're the one who lost it!" Another replied.

"Just shut up and keep looking. It couldn't have gone far."

James watched as the two colts popped open one of the barrels and looked inside. When it didn't yield results, they threw open a nearby chest and found some books and a wooden practice sword, but no humans. For an entire harrowing thirty seconds this practice continued, until finally they only had to check the trunk James was hiding in. One colt whispered something unintelligible to the other, who turned and quietly closed the door behind them.

Not good.

The two of them gathered beside the trunk, ready to strike as soon as it was opened. But James was just as ready as they were.

Not good… for _them._

The trunk flew open, and the tiny room erupted into chaos.

* * *

><p>Feather wind woke up to bright sunlight and a splitting headache.<p>

He groaned. _'What happened?'_

His memories came rushing back to him before the question registered. The creature had attacked them and by some miracle had managed to overpower both him and Dusk Helm. The storage room they had fought in was in shambles; papers had been scattered everywhere, a barrel had been broken open with its contents spilling out like a wounded beast, and the door to the room had been splintered, and was hanging loosely on one hinge. In the hallway beyond, Dusk was unconscious, but breathing and otherwise unharmed, which was good, as Feather's memory was that the creature had kicked him with both feet through the door after lifting off the ground to get a height advantage.

After waking him and getting him back on his hooves, Feather asked his partner if he remembered what happened.

"Not a thing," Dusk said to him. "I _think _it went down… that way." Dusk gestured down the hall in front of them.

Feather winced, not entirely because of the pain. "But that leads right to the rest of the castle; the guardhouse, the kitchen, and…"

"…The throne room," Dusk finished.

The princesses had to be warned.


	10. Chapter 10

From an outer door to the massive throne room, James watched as the three ponies conversed. The two guard-ponies from earlier had reported the incident last evening to this Princess Celestia, as expected. James regarded her, noticing that she looked very similar to the creature on the flag from earlier. She had a bright white coat, the kind that someone could see in the middle of a dark room clearly. She stood about a head taller than her two informants, even more so if one counted her downy, feathered wings. A sharply-pointed horn jutted from her forehead, her vibrant, shimmering mane flowed like liquid even without a breeze, and around her brow was placed a golden circlet. She also seemed to wear a gold bridle and what appeared to be horseshoe-boots. Most importantly to James, however, was the marking on her butt; the same sun on the flag and the bounty papers.

_This _lady was the one who issued the arrest warrant. But more importantly, she was the most likely culprit for sending James those dream-messages. She must have brought him here for some reason or another, some greater game that James couldn't yet understand entirely. Clearly, she wanted James to join her, but there was one thing for certain that James did know.

She was going to be the one to send him back.

* * *

><p>"You mean he was in Canterlot?" Celestia asked the guard-pony, Feather Wind, her words reverberating around the relatively vacant throne-room. She had deployed Feather and his partner, Dusk Helm, roughly three days ago to find out the whereabouts of the creature. It would seem that they found it, only much closer than they thought.<p>

"No, no!" Feather replied. "I mean in _here! _In this very castle!"

"Hiding where danger is closest," Dusk added.

Celestia listened to their recount of the previous evening with concern. Apparently, somehow the creature had been able to infiltrate the castle and snoop around. When he was spotted by the two of them, they pursued him into a storage room where he attacked them and escaped into the halls leading towards this very room, among other places. Celestia grimly wondered what would happen if the creature came upon the guardhouse, where the guard retinue stocked their weapons and armour. Nothing good, she assumed.

"For all we know," Dusk said, "he could still be here, waiting for the perfect timing!"

"Timing for what, may I ask?" Celestia replied.

"Well…" Dusk paused. "You know… the right time to, uh, strike. As the case may be."

"Or for night," Feather interjected hastily. "So as to better escape. I mean, I doubt he would risk attacking someone in broad daylight, right?"

Celestia thought about that for a moment. "It would be very unwise, especially since the guard detail has been alerted to his presence. For now, just search the grounds, and keep a low profile. If he's even here at all, we'll find him."

As Celestia dismissed the two guards, she took note of the tiny movement in the corner of her eye. The creature _was _still here—she just needed it to think she thought otherwise.

* * *

><p>James dashed down the hallway he was in towards a slightly open door, feeling vulnerable in the sunlight. Being behind enemy lines without help was one thing; being right in the center of the enemy compound when you <em>are <em>the help, force _and_ commander is another thing entirely. However, he _did _manage to raid the kitchen and nick a decent amount of food into his pack, so he had _that _going for him. He had a simple plan in mind at this point, that plan being to fill his pack with whatever else he could find, get a decent weapon, and maybe find out a little bit about this Celestia broad on the side. Then, once that was done, make like a stone and roll out of here without gathering any moss.

Creeping up to the door and peeking inside, James saw that it was some kind of guest room. It was vacant, for the time being, which made it a good hiding spot, but he was unsure of how long it would remain empty. James crept inside, slowly moving the door back into its original position, feeling like even closing it would draw some kind of suspicion. The room was relatively modest in comparison to the rest of the castle; a desk with a mirror was placed next to a window, with a canopied bed placed opposite to it. Between the two, against the wall next to the door James just came through, was a wardrobe of sorts, with a couple drawers underneath it.

James moved up to the desk and examined the things on it. The mirror reflected him perfectly, showing exactly how unkempt he was; covered in dirt, damp from last night's dip in the moat, his hair stringy and wild. The desk itself had a few beauty items on it, perfume bottles, a file, conditioner and a hair brush. Checking inside the desk drawers, James found a few more interesting items, including scissors, stationary, a letter opener and a small, reddish-brown leather-bound book. James picked up the book, flipped through the pages and found them all to be blank, meaning that it was meant to be written in rather than read. James took the book, an ink pen, and the file and put them in his pack before taking the letter opener and putting it in his pants pocket. They could come in handy later.

James suddenly heard the sound of footsteps, or rather hoofbeats, coming in his direction. James quickly looked for a place to hide, but found nowhere to do so except under the bed, which would be too obvious. Quickly moving to the window, he frantically looked around and found a tiny, easily opened lock. Before whatever was coming down that hall reached him, he was carefully moving across the windowsill just outside… with a thousand-foot drop waiting to greet him if he made a single misstep.

Why was it that things like this always happened to _him _specifically?

James couldn't risk being spotted, not at this point with nowhere to run. Looking up, he found a tapestry of sorts, hanging from the side of the tower. He had no idea if the presence moving down the hall had passed or was in the room right now, and he didn't really care; there was nothing left in that room that was of interest to him. Once again, James found himself climbing for a while, only this time in an even more precarious situation, until finally he came to the top of the tall spire, which ended in a balconied viewing-point. Attached to the guardrail of the balcony was a telescope, which interested James. He looked around; nobody was watching from the streets, which James could see clearly, giving him a full layout of the city that would come in handy later when he needed to scram.

James slowly crept into the tiny chamber, looking down the spiral-shaped staircase into the darkness. There was nobody coming along any time soon, it seemed. It would be most opportunistic to take advantage of the situation to move down the staircase and find a way out. But something in the back of his head spoke to him.

'_That telescope looks interesting,' _James's thoughts told him. _'And nobody's coming along, so we should see what it does.'_

The thoughts compelled James to go to the telescope. After all, one small peek wouldn't waste too much time. Walking over to the spyglass, he put it up to his eye and saw...

James smiled. _'Interesting indeed.'_

* * *

><p>A few hours passed, and morning turned to noon as the golden orb that gave light to the land made its trip around the planet. The day progressed as it normally would; Celestia was up to her nose in paperwork, citizens were going about their usual business, and guards were making their daily rounds. As she had hoped, there had been no sightings of the creature in the general population, which meant that it had either vanished into thin air, as every exit was blocked and there would be no way to leave, or it was still here. Celestia chose not to think too much about whether she was making the right choice letting the creature run free, but her plan was to remain calm and keep the creature thinking that it was safe.<p>

It was roughly 2 o'clock in the afternoon when she found time to meet with the two guards that initially had spotted the creature once more.

"No further sighting of the creature," Feather concluded after a lengthy report.

"You're certain that he couldn't have gotten away?" Celestia asked.

"Positive," Dusk replied. "I personally took it upon myself—"

"—With my recommendation—" Feather interrupted.

"—To double the guard detail and have every entrance and exit monitored. Even the drainage area."

"Splendid," Celestia said. "However, there is one problem; one of the guards on your detail found the door to one of the guest rooms open, and reported the window in that room open as well. I don't suppose that there's any way this creature could have escaped through there, correct?"

The two guards shared a glance at one another, then turned back to Celestia.

"Only if the creature can fly," Feather suggested.

"Or is invulnerable to harm," Dusk added. "That has to be a thousand foot drop, if not more."

"And right into solid rock, as well…" Feather agreed grimly.

"Okay," Celestia said quickly to change the subject. "So we now know _for sure _that he's still here?"

"Just hiding really well, presumably," Feather confirmed.

* * *

><p>James listened in on the conversation between the two guards and their princess intently, hoping to gain information on a single crack in their defenses from them. About ten minutes before this conversation took place, James had managed to get back into the throne room and hide himself in the upper reaches of the room, using a stone support for a column to hide. The platform was precarious, for sure, but it was also sturdy and well-hidden in plain sight. This was a high-risk high-reward situation however; guards had been stationed all around the room, and were standing at ready, silent and near-motionless. Luckily, James was hiding where he would be unnoticed.<p>

At least, that's what he thought at that point.

"So," Celestia was saying, "if I was a fugitive, where would I hide?"

She began to slowly walk across the room, pacing as she thought.

"Let's see… it would have to be somewhere with little light… very remotely placed, but still in plain sight so as to remain conspicuous."

Something was wrong.

"It would ultimately be somewhere…" Celestia concluded, her back turned towards James, "…that nobody would think to look. Somewhere…"

James realized the ploy too late. Celestia suddenly turned right towards him, and a blinding flash of light sent James tumbling from his perch. Time slowed down as he fell, and his thoughts scolded him.

'_You know why this happens exclusively to you? Because you let your guard down like a dumbass, that's why!'_

James forced those thoughts down. _'Always a way out.' _Thinking for the briefest of moments, James got an idea, and folded his arm in front of his chest, gripping the spear-tip knife in his jacket. A half-second later, James crashed to the stone ground and faked a sound of pain, which honestly wasn't that hard to do.

"…Like there." Celestia said. "Gotcha."

James could hear multiple contacts moving in from all around. He could hear Feather's voice tell him to stay there and don't move.

"Wait, wait…" James said, and stupidly the other guards stopped in their tracks. "I think my arm's broken."

"Well, then," Feather replied, "all the more reason not to move."

However, when Feather got closer, James did indeed move; in one quick motion, he whipped the knife right at the guardsman, who frantically ducked out of the way. Before any of the guards could react, James was on his feet, letter opener in hand to use as a secondary weapon, charging right into the fray.

* * *

><p>By the end of the struggle, James had been restrained and placed in iron manacles, but it had taken roughly ten of the soldiers to pin him down in the room and capture him. And this Celestia had done absolutely <em>jack <em>to help them. So what; she was too _good _to get her hands dirty every so often? Not even a forcefield, or a magic blast? For a being of great power like he had heard, she was pretty fond of staying out of a fight, leaving her men to do the work for her. For this reason, James already hated her.

Around the room the soldiers were staring daggers. Feather Wind had a deep scrape in the side of his battle helmet, and Dusk Helm had a pair of napkins hanging from his nose where James had pegged him as hard as he could. Celestia didn't look pleased either.

"Now," she said, "if you're calmed down enough to see reason, you're surrounded and there isn't any escape. I'd like to know if—"

"Lady," James interrupted, "if you think I'm just going to lay down and take whatever you're going to dish out, you have another thing coming."

"Oh, come on," Dusk said. "You're handcuffed and unarmed. What can you possibly—?"

He was about halfway through the word 'do' before James was strangling him with the length of chain between his manacles.

* * *

><p>James smirked at Celestia through the bars of his dungeon cell. He may have lost this fight as well, having about four fresh wounds that were bandaged, but at least he managed to get <em>her<em> to do some fighting for a change.

"As I was _saying…" _Celestia continued, blowing her ruffled bangs out of her eyes and regarding James with a look that was equal parts disappointment and frustration. "I would like to know what you're doing here, and perhaps who your master is."

"My master is me," James said flatly. "I already told you in your little dream vision-quest thing that I'm not going to be your or anyone else's lackey, okay? So putting me in jail will do nothing to change that."

Celestia suddenly got a look of surprise, like she didn't expect him to say that. "W-what?" she said, her calm demeanor gaining an edge of confusion and perhaps even fear. "Wait… you mean to say that, you're having… dream visions? What form did they take? Like a pair of stars, gazing out a black void?"

"You should know," James replied accusingly, "you're the one who sent them, and you're the one who's going to send me back home!"

"Excuse me?" Celestia stammered. "N-no! I'm not who you think I am! Listen, I've been having the same dreams! They must be connected somehow! What else do you know?"

"…I know that my name is James Alistair," James replied, "and that I'm done talking to you."

Celestia stared at James for a good moment. And then her expression hardened again.

"Very well," she said. "In that case, until such time as you choose to cooperate, I place you under arrest for the crimes of theft, assault of an Equestrian guard and _resisting _arrest. Decide to speak with me again and give me some answers, and I might think of releasing you with full pardon. Until then," she said as she turned to the two nameless guards flanking the door, "keep an eye on him."

With that, she left James to make small talk with the guards at his cell.

* * *

><p>For the next few hours, Celestia paced in her study, doing nothing but think about what this James Alistair had said to her. He had confirmed to her that he was having similar dreams to hers; almost like prophetic visions. However, there were a few differences. James seemed to have believed that Celestia had sent the visions, which meant that whatever presence was sending these dreams did not intend to destroy him, but rather manipulate him, sway him over to its side. Suddenly, James was cast into a new light. He was no longer a simple nuisance; he was a potential captain for some dark force bent on using him to strike at Equestria while it gathered its strength for a killing blow. This made one thing certain: Celestia could <em>not <em>let James out of her sight.

Celestia pondered this idea for a good, long time. She had to be totally, _absolutely _sure that this was the plan that was in store for James. With the back of her mind, she lifted a cup of tea from her desk and emptied it in one loud, uncivilized draught. Her head hurt. It was hard to keep her mind on track. But above all was the exhaustion she felt. Celestia yawned, even though it was only early in the evening, not even time for dinner yet. At least in a few more hours she could just go to bed and let Luna take over for the night.

Before she could continue her train of thought, Celestia heard a familiar noise and felt a light impact on the top of her head. Twilight's friendship report. Catching the scroll in midair, she unfurled it to take a look at what her pupil had been up to today. Thank goodness it was nothing too horribly surreal, as Celestia had had enough surreal things for one day. She grinned at the thought of returning to earthly matters, even if she knew they wouldn't last.

So she made a vow to treasure the moment.

* * *

><p>It was evening when James was about to turn in, wondering if Celestia would send him more dreams. Although a few hours of thought made him unsure if it was her once again. It was weird; it felt like something was suppressing his thoughts, making it difficult for him to clear his mind. More aftereffects of the memory-loss, he assumed. Celestia said that she was having the same visions as James did, and her description of them was disturbingly accurate. This could mean one of two things; the first was that she was being honest, and the second was that she was making up more lies to get him to sympathize with her in some kind of Stockholm syndrome gambit. After all, could James really trust anyone in this world, especially after he managed to anger a lot of higher-ups in the hierarchy?<p>

James sat in his cot and gazed out at the two guards that were watching him, staying perfectly still on either side of the door. Both of them had removed their helmets, letting James see their heads completely. One thing was for certain; he was not going to sit back and wait for them to try and interrogate him. He needed a way out. After thinking for a while, he got an idea.

"Hey, uh," he called out to one of the guards. "You there, golden boy. Hi. Uh, do you think I could get a cup of water? Y'know, my species needs a lot of water, right? Six glasses a day. And, uh, I'd get some myself, except there's no tap here, so…"

The guards glowered at him.

"Come on, man. It's _water. _That has to be a reasonable request, right?"

The two guards considered it. Then one left to get the water for him.

James waited for about five seconds before he set his plan in motion. Getting up from his cot, he walked over to the bars of his cell and…

"What are you—!" The guard suddenly grimaced in disgust. "Hey! What the hay do you think you're doing!?"

When James didn't listen, the guard advanced on him. "What are you, deaf? We put the bucket in the corner for a reason, you sick—"

These guards may be well trained, but they were about as bright as an ocean trench. Before the guard could react, James grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the bars hard enough to knock him unconscious.

"Yeah," James said to the guard as he slipped the key-ring off of his belt, "I heard you."

When he got out of his cell, James lugged the insensible guard into his cot and locked him in. Looking around, James took a broom off of the wall and removed the handle, giving him a walking stick-sized bat to use. James hid behind the door and waited until the second guard came back. He had about two and a half seconds to notice that James wasn't in his cell before he got knocked senseless as well.

From there on in it was left to chance. James needed to get out of the city like yesterday, so he had to make every second count. He was lucky; the guards hadn't gone through his possessions yet, which meant that all of his things were still in his pack. He took the few seconds to grab his stuff, and then it was go, go, go.

* * *

><p>Celestia knew that the good times weren't going to last. Case in point, as two guards burst into her dining room just as she was about to sit down to dinner and provided unsurprising news.<p>

"My Princess," one guard cried out. "The prisoner, James—he's escaped!"

Celestia sighed. "Where is he now?"

"Our men have him cornered at the top of one of the spires, but he's barricaded the door heavily. It could take a long time before we can reach him."

"He's cornered," Celestia replied calmly. "Why would you think he could get away still?"

The guard shifted uneasily. "Feather Wind suggested that he would only let himself be cornered if he had a plan. He wanted me to let you know."

"I understand. Show me where he is. Send your partner ahead; let Feather Wind know that I want him brought back at any cost. I need him alive, so we can get answers from him."

It was a few minutes before Celestia had joined the guards at the top of the tower. The staircase leading to the door was congested with spear-carrying guards, with one of them being looked at by another, nursing a large bruise on the side of his head. He had been struck hard enough to dent his helm with some blunt instrument.

Feather Wind was right next to the door.

"He's armed," he explained to her. "Stole one of our spears. Not that we can get to him, he managed to barricade the door well enough."

"I can take care of that," Celestia said, a dark grin spreading across her face. "Stand back."

* * *

><p>James stood on the very edge of the viewing platform, the view of the land stretching out before him. The world was in twilight, with the sun's fading glow turning the edge of the sky a burnt red.<p>

He hoped against hope that this would work.

Behind him, the door that he had barricaded exploded outwards in a blaze of ethereal fire and hung loosely on its hinges.

'_Okay,' _James thought. _'This is it.'_

"Pay attention!" Feather Wind barked from inside the doorway. "Get out on your knees! _Right now!"_

James took a deep breath, feeling more alive than ever before. His plan relied on faith and fate alone; he could only pray at this point. After all, they say that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

And so James did.

Right off the edge of the tower.


	11. Chapter 11

There's a saying that most people who commit suicide by jumping immediately regret the decision after the fact.

For the first ten seconds of his freefall, James did just that.

Plummeting through the sky towards the floor of the earth he could barely make out, James felt the wind against his chest and face, watching as the mountain city of Canterlot whipped past him in a frantic blur. In the first ten seconds of his descent, he got worried that his theory was wrong, which would mean he had condemned himself to death. However, as he flipped himself around in midair and saw the diving forms of pegasi guards, his fears melted away. He was right. Celestia, for whatever reason, wanted or needed him alive. He could use that to his advantage in this situation, but he had to time it just right.

Tucking in his arms and straightening out, James pulled into a dive, accelerating his fall. He couldn't let them catch him, not yet. The closer he got to the ground, the more likely he would survive his crazy stupid plan.

A sudden voice screamed James back into reality. Dusk Helm, by the sound of it, but he wasn't sure exactly.

"Brilliant plan!" he called. "Just what did you think would happen at this point, exactly?"

James twisted in midair to dodge his attempt to catch him between his front hooves. He had to keep him talking, keep him from noticing how close they were to the ground.

"What can I say?" James called back. "I get antsy when I'm out of mortal danger for more than an hour! And hey, you know, free skydiving lessons, so why not?"

The ground was rushing up to meet the both of them fast. Just a few more seconds.

"Okay," Dusk said. "No more fooling around! I think it's time that we ended this!"

James whirled around another attempt to capture him. A few more seconds in this game of chicken and he'll manage to put his idea into effect. He just hoped that he had timed it right; a millisecond less and he would be back in the prison cell, and a millisecond more and he would be paste.

"Are you INSANE!?" Dusk screamed at him.

"Maybe!" James screamed back between fits of laughter. "Haven't had time to see a professional!"

They were about thirty feet from the earth…

'_Now!'_

Dusk made a last-ditch attempt to catch him, and this time James didn't evade. In fact, he lifted out of his dive and flew right up into his arms. At the very last second, Dusk clumsily pulled up, missing certain death by scant feet and taking James with him.

"Ha! Got you!" he said. "Now, did you really think that you would survive that?"

They were level, and flying smoothly and gently, and Dusk hadn't begun to pull into the sky yet. The trees of the forest were so close that James could brush them with his toes. So he answered honestly.

"No, not really." James looked up and, grinning all the while, said "so thanks for _helping me."_

With that, he swung his full weight forward, causing the pegasus to pitch downward and lose his grip.

James fell beneath the trees, uncomfortably landing on every branch on the way down. Of course, James's dirty trick had karmic feedback, as just before he hit solid ground a log protruding from the earth greeted a particularly soft spot.

It was a few seconds before James could recover.

"Okay," James said as he stumbled to his feet, his voice an octave higher than it should be, "_that _hurt. But it could have been a lot worse, right? So just… just keep going, Jim. The pain will subside momentarily. Come on. Waddle… your crippled ass away… from this depressing foundation as fast as you can manage…"

And so he did.

* * *

><p>When Dusk Helm finally reached the top of the mountain and returned to the tower from which James had jumped, he found a worried princess waiting for him.<p>

"Oh, _no," _Celestia said as he landed, her expression changing from worry to horror. "Don't tell me he—"

"No," Dusk said immediately. "No, nothing like that. He survived… it's hard to explain…"

"Well," Celestia replied, "just take your time."

And so Dusk told them exactly what happened; how James had taken advantage of their attempt to save his life and used it to escape.

"Monstrous," was all Feather Wind could say after he had finished.

"I can't believe that there wasn't more to it than that," Celestia denied. "He had to have had some reason. He said that he thought I was the one trying to communicate to him in his dreams. He must have been scared for his life."

"…And what makes you think that?" Dusk asked.

"Also," Feather added, "communicating through dreams?"

Celestia avoided the subject Feather had brought up. Instead, she answered Dusk's question. "If you were alone in a strange world surrounded by people who fear and misunderstand you, how would you feel?"

The area fell silent. It was quiet for a few seconds, and then Dusk Helm asked the question that nopony would dare ask Celestia, yet would think about for a long while.

"Why are you defending him?"

Celestia regarded Dusk with concern. "James may be stubborn and bold, to the point of irrational recklessness. But he's not the enemy here. There's something worse… something far worse."

There was another pause.

Finally, Feather Wind broke the silence. "What would you have us do?"

Celestia took time to think about it. "Send out a few of your colts. Have them canvass the area for as much information as possible. He couldn't have gone too far."

"And when we find him?"

"Don't provoke him. Just… keep your distance, like before. Do _not, _under _any _circumstances, let him out of your sight, even for a minute. Interfere only if he attempts to harm innocent lives. Do you understand?"

Dusk opened his mouth to object, but Feather wind silenced him by replying.

"Understood, milady."

Celestia smiled at him. "Please don't call me that."

* * *

><p>Once again, James found himself at home in the darkness of the woods, clouds above giving an even deeper darkness to the area. There was constant 'shushing' sound from above, and the trees dripped clear water from above. It had begun to rain.<p>

James clambered over rocks and fallen trees, slipped under overhangs and kept to the darkness. He had escaped from the dungeons of Canterlot with rations that would last him at least a week, a proper weapon that would aid him well, and a few other things that would come in handy during his travels.

So why did he feel so unsure of his choices so far?

Since he had gotten here, he had stolen from two different places, attacked an innocent mare, refused to cooperate, and generally acted unwise, stubborn, and unreasonable. Had all of his actions been wrong?

James shook his head. _'No,' _he thought to himself. _'I can't afford to doubt myself, not now. My actions may have been wrong, but I was unsure what would happen to me. I felt confused…'_

He paused, hearing a noise above him. Aiming his spear upwards at the sky, he waited for a full minute before going to move again.

'_Oh, who am I kidding? I felt _afraid. _Desperate.'_

James felt the anger he felt at this world subside. He could have done many things differently, but what's past is past, and besides, it wasn't like he was evil. He wasn't motivated by greed or ambition, merely the need for survival. What happened to him happened because of an event he couldn't control. It was beyond his power to change it, so he should simply keep pushing forward.

James continued to wander aimlessly, arguing with himself about the merits of his choices. He was exhausted from the events of the day, sweating even in the cold, damp forest, and his head was pounding. He eventually found a stone overhang to lie under for the night, and dropped off to sleep once again. No dreams came to him.

* * *

><p>When James woke up, the sun had not yet risen into the sky. The rain, however, had stopped, meaning that the patrols would be searching for him soon. The rest had done him good; the pounding in his head had subsided for now, and he felt stronger than he did a few days ago. The clarity of his mind had returned as well, giving James the opportunity to contemplate how to move past a new problem as he began to hike towards the south.<p>

When James was running around castle Canterlot he found a very interesting sight. The telescope he found at the top of the tower. When James looked into it, he could see the entire kingdom from it; Ponyville, the woods, the railroad that interconnected the lands. By some magical or perhaps even technical miracle, James could see it like he was hovering close by, even seeing people from over 200 clicks of his position. A curious sight, but it brought up a very big problem; how was he going to get beyond the forest without being seen?

The forest surrounding the mountain that housed Canterlot only went so far before fading away into plains. Cover would lessen until there would be nothing to conceal his movements. Which meant that, no matter what, he would eventually be found, no matter how far away he was or how fast he was traveling. He could attempt to circle around the mountain and continue his path to the north, but he would run the risk of being found by patrols; after all, he couldn't hide forever, especially not here. In fact, there was only one place he could hide, one place where he was certain no sane pony would go in a prolonged attempt to find him.

He had to get back to the Everfree. There was something about that place that had everyone in this world scared stiff. At first glance, James thought it was simply the beasts, and they certainly contributed, but it didn't quite make sense; why would a pony capable of flight or with reality itself at their beck and call be afraid of a mere monster? It was something else, something about the forest that was repellant. Unnatural. As he moved over uneven ground, he considered what would be so unsettling about the place. Some kind of spell? Legends or myths that told of misfortune to anyone that entered, saying that they never returned?

James suddenly got an idea. Yet another risk in a brief time chock full of them, but it was a good way to get out unnoticed. After all, who would think to search a place meant for objects?

Doubling back, James moved in the direction he believed it to be. It looked like he had a train to catch.

* * *

><p>When James found the tracks, they were deserted. The risk in this action came from multiple angles; it would be unsafe and unwise to sneak aboard the train when it was at the station, so James would have to catch up to the train <em>in motion <em>and climb on. From there, he could stowaway in a cargo or luggage compartment and remain hidden from the all-seeing eye on the mountain. The problem was, Celestia would know the path he took regardless of what he chose to do; if he made the trip on foot, he would be seen, and if he hid on the train, someone would catch wind of the trick and, worst case scenario, stop the train mid-journey to search it.

There didn't seem to be a solution until James thought back to his conversation with Lyra.

_Green branches don't burn as easily, _he had told her while they attempted to build a fire for the night. _But they smoke like crazy, which can be noticed anywhere by anyone._

'_That's it!' _James thought. _'A diversion!'_

The trick would have to grab as much attention as possible, something big and loud in order to draw as many eyes towards it, and away from him. The best part of his plan was that it had rained recently, meaning that most wood that he could gather would smoke, but not burn. If he were to gather enough of it, he could create a controlled fire that would appear as a spectacular blaze. Forces would be drawn up to contain an already contained fire, clamour would increase, and the system would be disrupted. And, all the while, James would sneak out aboard a train while the Canterlot forces were in disarray.

Rising to his feet, James turned and bent to his task. He'd need to act swiftly; every hour here was another risk taken.

* * *

><p>All morning, the skies above the forest surrounding Canterlot was searched. Hidden above in the clouds, pegasus guards monitored the ground below, keeping a sharp eye out for the fugitive. Yet there was no sign of him yet.<p>

For about an hour, Feather Wind feared that James had somehow managed to slip past them without their noticing. However, his fears were eliminated when the creature was spotted moving towards the railway tracks almost twenty minutes ago. As a precaution, Feather had sent Dusk Helm ahead towards Ponyville. He had a feeling what the creature's plan was.

And yet, another hour passed and there were still no sightings. Perhaps he was wrong. The thought of that made his skin itch under his armour, a feeling that hadn't occurred to him since he first wore it in the training camps. This creature was smart, of that there was no doubt, and if he slipped up now it would only invite more disaster. He did not fear reprimand or punishment from his superiors, but what he _did _fear was the failure to do what he was trained to do; protect his homeland at any cost.

A sudden cry of alarm alerted Feather to a new and terrifying development.

"Commander!"

One of the guards, young and inexperienced by the look of him, had spotted a thick column of black smoke rising from the forest treeline. The massive smoke cloud, which would be clearly visible even from Canterlot, could only mean one thing; forest fire. Worse still, the blaze would have been spotted from the palace by now. There would be a lot of people with questions as to what was going on.

On one hoof, this was almost certainly a diversion by James to mask his true strategy. On the other hoof, there was the chance that the fire wasn't controlled properly, and that could result in a massive inferno and the loss of a large forest area full of life. It forced Feather to make a choice; risk lives by continuing his pursuit or let the fugitive get away by stopping the fire now.

"What is your order?" The guard asked after he neglected to answer.

"…Take your colts and try to contain that fire!" he commanded after a short delay.

"But sir, the fugitive—"

"The fugitive will not get away this time," he reassured his comrade. "That is a promise."

As the guards-ponies lifted from their cloud perches and sailed off into the sky towards the column of smoke, Feather repeated the phrase to himself.

"That is a promise."

* * *

><p>As soon as that fire was lit, off into the woods James raced.<p>

He had taken the risk of carrying mossy firewood into a clearing, and taking multiple trips at that, but he was able to create a sizably large bonfire at the centre. After taking the time to gather stones to surround the pit as an extra precaution, James turned back towards the tracks and hit the ground running.

It was only when he was halfway back to the tracks that he realized that he had no way of knowing when the next train would come. This problem only speeded James along, giving him the extra amount of steam he needed. He hoped that he wasn't too late, or for that matter, too early. As he sprinted through the uneven terrain, hurtling over stones and fallen trees, he assured himself that he would plan things out next time, no matter what.

As he broke out of the treeline, luck was with him at that very moment; by convenience, a train was just ahead of him on the tracks, just beginning its departure and only starting to gain speed. There would be no time to slow down and no room for error. James burst out, tearing towards the train for all he was worth. The caboose of the train got closer and closer… and started to pull away.

"No! NO, you friggin' ASS!" James cursed, pouring on the speed. His legs began to ache.

With that burst of speed, James was at a manageable pace with the train. Time slowed down for him; he'd have to take yet another stupid risk.

'_Don't you dare mess this up,' _James threatened himself. _'Don't you DARE mess this up…'_

With that, James leapt, nay, he _flew, _and his hand gripped the back railing of the caboose of the train. With his legs dragging painfully against the ground for only a moment, James pulled himself up, collapsed onto the deck of the caboose's back platform, and sat breathlessly. He was tired, sore, and generally irritable. But one thing was certain.

He absolutely _nailed _that escape.

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of rest, James took the time to assess the situation. He had just escaped from quite possibly the most secure place in this land in, depending on one's point of view, either the craziest or most badass way possible. He had the government on his heels, believing he was the herald for some kind of interdimensional force. He was on the bad side of the pinnacle of aristocratic power in these parts, and he had gotten literally nowhere in his plans to get back home.<p>

In the short term, however, he was solid. He had gained the food that he needed for the long road ahead, he was on a train bound for the Everfree, hidden in a baggage car he had snuck into after regaining his bearings, and he had only accumulated a few scrapes and bruises. As James moved over to the side door of the car, he opened ever so slightly to check on the aftermath. Sure enough, the column of smoke had turned from black to white; a sign that the burning had ceased. That notion comforted him slightly, but only added to the list of crimes he had committed since he got here. As it stood, he had three counts of theft, resisting arrest, assault and now arson. He wondered how many other crimes he could add to that list.

Closing the door, James moved back to his original position behind some wooden storage crates bound for some place called 'Manehattan', a name that made James feel a sense of familiarity. Once more, he was alone with his thoughts, and whatever presence that was hovering over him. James didn't realize it until now, but the feeling of constantly being watched was coming to him while he was awake, something that was definitely not a good sign.

Eventually, James came across a rolled-up rug and laid it out as best he could in the cramped car, and had a small meal of two carrots, half a loaf of bread and a banana. Finding nothing else to do, he rummaged around in his pack and retrieved the blank notebook he 'appropriated' from castle Canterlot along with an ink pen. He had an evening to go, and the sun hadn't even set yet. On the bright side, at least he didn't have to go on foot.

It was high time he started documenting his travels. Opening the book to the first page, he began to write down everything he knew, about Twilight and her company, about Celestia, about the beasts he had encountered and the memories he could bring to mind. Most importantly, he wrote whatever he could about the presence in his dreams.

It would seem some of his priorities had to be set straight.


	12. Chapter 12

Somewhere beyond what any living thing can properly comprehend, they watched the scenario unfold. The events that had taken place thus far were not perfect, but at least desirable; the human pawn they sent had created the strife necessary to loosen the binds of their prison. Even now, he sat hidden in the storage compartment of a train, oblivious to the Equestrian guard-sergeant trailing him. The human's incapability of cooperation, as well as his aptitude for defiance and unshakable stubbornness, had the good fortune of creating several rivalries that could be taken advantage of; they had chosen well, even more so than they had originally thought.

Suddenly, they were roused from their thoughts by a voice in the darkness.

_Your plan continues to go well, I take it?_

**More than you know, **the first voice replied.

**It remains in motion, **the second voice added.

The third presence remained silent for a time. Then it spoke; a buzzing hum of ethereal static.

_Lord, is it truly wise to leave the human to his devices? His nature is unpredictable; he himself defied your very order. Would not it be safer to exert dominion over him?_

**It matters not if he defies us, only that he continues on his path, **The First voice pointed out.

**A path pre-ordained, **The Second crooned, **and fore-**_**doomed.**_

_Yes, but why take the risk? Why not simply allow me to take his place? I will not fail you!_

The primeval presence turned coldly on The Third.

**And yet, when we gave you the chance in the previous time, **The First said accusingly, **you did exactly what you swore just now **_**not **_**to do.**

**The Human will succeed in his purpose, **The Second confirmed.

_I understand that the chance of his failure is highly unlikely, but—_

_**Do not question us, Thrall! **_The Twin Voices insisted in unison. The First voice continued. **Call it… faith, **it said. **You have it, we assume?**

…_I do._

The presence turned back towards its work. **Consider the change in events since the time of your attempt, **The First explained. **The Human James Alistair has provided us with minds that have been weakened by emotion. Fear, confusion, doubt… and **_**anger.**_

**Minds that can be twisted, **The Second said. **Seeded with thoughts of protection, paranoia, and vengeance.**

**For example, **The First added, a feeling of sadistic glee filling the space they occupied, **the Equestrian Pegasus they refer to as 'Rainbow Dash'. She has become highly, shall we say, susceptible to our subtle manipulations since the encounter in the Everfree roughly two Equestrian weeks ago.**

The Third simply stared in silence as the scene changed. It showed the very creature in question as she remained in her bedroom. The moonlight had been barred access to her room, and the creature shifted constantly atop the sheets of her bed, awake and attempting to fall asleep.

Finally The Third spoke once again.

_Say what you will, Lord, but know you play a dangerous game. You selected the Human for a reason, but his destiny could very well change. Humans are notoriously free-spirited._

**So we have seen before, **The First said. **But the Clockwork of the Cosmos goes on.**

**Time, space, **The Second said. **The Endless Cycle. **_**Ad Infinitum.**_

_Very well, _The Third conceded. _May your plan, whatever it is, remain prosperous, Lord._

**It will, my disciple, **The First assured The Third. **Be patient.**

**Your time will come, **The Second added.

And with that, the three continued to monitor events.

* * *

><p>As Feather Wind had promised, the fugitive had not escaped him. Not really, at least.<p>

Sailing above the clouds where he would be less likely to be seen, Feather watched the train as it sped across the land towards Ponyville. James had managed to find a hiding spot within a cargo car as it left the station at Canterlot, as well as hide from the rail security as they made their routine check. The question was, why would he go back to the place where they would be looking for him first? He had everything he needed to get away, so why risk being captured once more?

The realization suddenly hit him. The Everfree Forest. James was planning to dig his heels into the muck of that alien location and set up shop. The Equestrian Guard would be hesitant to follow him into that area, where they would have to fight a constant battle against the environment, the predatory monsters and the elements, not to mention James himself. For James, however, it would be relatively easy; he had at least a little experience hiding in the forest, and his behavior showed him to be crafty enough to survive. It wasn't hard to imagine James turning some forsaken corner of that place into a foothold and using it as a base for his plans.

Feather couldn't let that happen. If James disappeared into that forest, there would be very little hope of finding him, let alone recapturing him. He had to get to the creature before he left that train, or there would be no further chances. Tucking in his wings, Feather dove down towards the roof of the train and touched down lightly enough to not make a noise. Slowly moving to one side of the car, Feather paused only for a moment to observe the closed door. Then he swung down, wrapped one hoof around the handle of the door, flung it open and closed again as he slammed down into the cargo car.

"Alright!" he called out. "Ride's over, Alistair! Come out with your hooves—no, hands…up?"

For a moment Feather thought that he had touched down in the wrong car, which would have been embarrassing, but at least preferable to the horrifying reality.

James wasn't here! But…that wasn't possible! Feather had been trailing this train for its entire trip; James wouldn't be able to get off without him knowing it. Feather searched the car up and down, but there was no evidence that James had moved to another car, and nothing left behind to prove he was in the area in the first place.

"No," Feather began to frantically chant. "No, no, no no _no no…"_

Here he was, an aging veteran guards-pony, composure to last him a lifetime, and he was on the verge of panic thinking of what would happen to him and others if James had somehow managed to give him the slip. He would lose his armour for sure, and James would go on to enact some serious plot, which could lead to the harm of many innocent people who probably were never aware James even existed.

Feather's thoughts began to take on a new image.

'_What if James ends up hurting a child during one of his raids? What if somepony gets seriously injured or…'_

No. Feather couldn't… _wouldn't… _let that happen. James had to be found, and he would be, even if he had to tear down the Everfree just to do it.

The fate of Equestria hung in the balance!

* * *

><p>'<em>Where is he?'<em>

Dusk Helm waited at the train station in Ponyville, tapping one hoof in impatience and nervousness. Even _he _wasn't this late to a premeditated meeting. Feather said that he would be here at eight o' clock sharp, and it was nine thirty now. What made it so puzzling was that Feather _never _showed up late to an official conference. A few minutes was no cause for alarm; an hour and a half was _unsettling. _

Dusk became conscious of his surroundings to take his mind off of the thought. Around him, posters had been hung all over the walls, advertising the fugitive and requesting that anyone with information leading to his capture to step forward, with the recently-added promise of 100 bits to anyone willing to do so. Dusk recalled seeing similar posters plastered around Canterlot as well. People were milling about the station even at this hour; some stood, some sat on benches, others still waited out in the cool night air. One unfortunate colt was asleep under a newspaper on one of the benches, and was snoring away. It made Dusk think about his own life choices. He remembered that his life wasn't very different from the down-on-his-luck pony, up until he enlisted. He wondered if—

"Hey," a small voice greeted from below. Dusk looked down, torn from his thoughts, and found himself staring at a small filly. She was an orange pegasus with a pink mane and tail, and she stared up at Dusk with huge, purple eyes.

"You're one of those guards, right?" she asked curiously. "I remember seeing a picture of one of you guys at some place! Are you here to hunt that monster?"

"Excuse me?" Dusk replied. He had no idea what she was talking about until she gestured to the posters on the opposite wall.

"That guy!" she said. "I'm told he's some kind of monster, some weird thing that stands up on two legs like a bear and has arms that end in tiny, stubby tentacles."

"Well," Dusk said, surprised by the filly's questions, "I wouldn't call him a _monster…"_

"Neither would I, really. Monsters are supposed to be scary, and this guy doesn't scare me at all! I bet _I _could catch him, given half the chance! Hey, are you here because he's back? Are you waiting for help to arrive?"

Dusk shifted uncomfortably. "Look," he said to her, "do you have anything better to do than bother me? Say, isn't it past your curfew?"

The face the filly gave him told him everything he needed to know. "N—… no…" she stuttered.

"_Go home, _kid," Dusk said.

The filly grunted angrily, turned and stormed off. Dusk sighed in relief; her questions and curiosity were unnerving him. Waiting for another ten minutes, Dusk was further relieved to see the train pull into the station. As the ponies on board filed out, his relief turned back into worry as he saw the look on his partner's face.

Feather approached him and, away from any large group, grimly told him the details of what happened. He concluded by saying that, somehow, James had managed to slip away while he wasn't on his hooves and was presumably in the Everfree by now.

"Okay," Dusk said when Feather had finished. "So, what now?"

"We have to warn _somepony. _If Alistair decides to steal from these people again, they should be ready. Come on; we need to get to town hall, and fast."

* * *

><p>Rainbow Dash wandered aimlessly through the streets of Ponyville. She hadn't slept in two days, and it had begun to show; the rings around her eyes, the frizzy, unkempt mane, and of course, the highly irritable attitude. Her thoughts had been on the humiliation she received two weeks ago since it happened. All of the anger, the spite at James, all it had done was grown since he trapped her. Then he escaped, evaded her and her attempts to find him again and make certain he regretted his choice.<p>

Twice, she had been found scouring the Everfree in the first week since his disappearance. Her friends, Twilight, Fluttershy, even Applejack, who had reason enough to continue searching, had all tried to convince her that the event, that the _person_, didn't matter; it wasn't like it was public, and it's not like the few who saw it cared. _James wasn't worth it_, they'd say, expecting her to drop the idea. But she couldn't just drop it. Dash couldn't explain it, she couldn't understand it, but she had to find him. _She HAD to make him pay. __**It was personal.**_

Deep down, she knew that it was wrong. But she couldn't help it. She had never felt so frustrated, so _angry…_

In the past few days, she hadn't spoken to anyone. Her rage grew even worse, to the point that she began to hear voices in her dreams, urging her to keep going. The search, the quest for vengeance; it _had to continue. _In the night, Dash's head began to pound with splitting headaches, and she found it hard to think about anything else, which didn't help in the slightest.

A sudden movement caught Dash's eye as she passed the train station during her random walk. Around the station, ponies were everywhere, both boarding and leaving the train that had just pulled in a few minutes ago. But among them were two hurrying figures that could be identified from miles away. Stark-white and clad in golden armour, two Canterlot Royal Guards sped in the direction of the town hall. A surge of adrenaline pulsed through Dash's body; there could only be one reason why they were here.

James had come back to Ponyville. After so long, so much fruitless searching, Dash finally had a chance to put that upstart jerk in his place once and for all. She could go after him, find him, and drag him back to town like the pathetic creature he was, humiliating and embarrassing him in the same way as he did to her, all in one night! This was the perfect opportunity to…

'_What about Twilight?' _Dash suddenly thought, her mind turning momentarily to her friends. _'She needs to be warned.'_

Her thoughts turned on her. _'Forget Twilight. All she'd say is to stay put until she can make another ineffectual plan. And just like that, you'd miss your only chance to take your revenge. Go after him before it's too late!'_

Dash stood there for a moment, thinking about what her choice would be. Eventually, her loyalty to her friends and hometown overpowered her need for vengeance. The people's needs came before hers. Turning and taking clumsily to the sky, she made a beeline for the Golden Oaks Library, hoping that Twilight was still awake.

* * *

><p>Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the knock at the door.<p>

She had been busy going through her library and searching through records about something or another when she was startled by a rather loud banging at the front door, which nearly caused her to fall out of the seat at her writing desk. Scrambling frantically towards the door, she called out "Just a moment!" as she heard another loud knock. Focusing on the door from about several metres away, she flung the door open to see a sorry-looking Rainbow Dash looking wild-eyed right at her.

"Rainbow!" Twilight said, surprised. "Hi! What brings you here at this hour? I haven't seen you in days, y-you look like dirt…"

"He's back, Twilight," was all Dash said in response. Without invitation, she trotted in. "We have to talk."

"Who's back?" Twilight asked, although she already knew the answer, and it wasn't good.

"James," she said. "He's back here, and I'm going to find him. Are you willing to help me?"

"Wait," Twilight interrupted. "How do you know that James is here again? The last time we saw him—"

"Two Canterlot Guards," Dash replied. "They were at the train station and were heading towards town hall before I came here. Why else would they be here?"

"F-for any number of reasons, Dash…" Twilight stammered. "I-I don't think that we should jump to, y'know, conclusions or anything…"

"Can you think of anything else they could be here for other than to find this jerk?"

Twilight didn't answer.

"Didn't think so," Dash said. "He's here, Twilight. I can _feel _it. And I have the perfect chance to bring him to justice!"

"We?" Twilight asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You mean 'We', right, Dash?"

Rainbow paused. "Y-yeah, Twilight. I mean… 'We'."

"Dash," Twilight said, not buying her friend's confirmation, "I understand why you'd want to see James behind bars as much as anyone. But this isn't healthy."

"What isn't healthy!?" Dash suddenly snapped. "What, so wanting to see a fugitive, criminal _dirtbag _in jail where he belongs is unhealthy!?"

"Okay, okay, calm down—"

"Or is it losing sleep over what kind of threat he poses!? I'll tell you what's unhealthy…"

"Dash—"

"Staying here—"

"_Dash—"_

"—_Instead of hunting him DOWN!"_

"_DASH!" _Twilight shouted, immediately silencing her friend.

The two of them glared at one another in silence for a full minute before the conversation continued.

"Look," Twilight said to her friend. "I have a really bad headache right now, so I'm not really in the state to argue with you on this. Everyone else is asleep right now, and we can't go out right now. We'll go out tomorrow, okay? And I promise we'll catch him."

"Fine," Dash said, turning away. "I'll just go home then and try to get some rest beforehoof—"

"No, Dash. You're not coming."

Dash froze in her tracks before turning on Twilight again, a dangerous edge in her tone of voice. "Excuse me?"

"Dash, please," Twilight said. "You're making me do this. James may have given you good reason to go after him, but you have to see that that's what he wants you to do. And your concern isn't healthy, Dash; it borders on a clinical _obsession."_

"I'm fine, Twilight. I can—"

"I want you to promise me," Twilight cut her off. "Promise me that you won't go out tomorrow looking for him."

"Twilight—"

"_Promise me. Please."_

"… I promise."

Twilight sighed. "Thank you, Dash. And I promise you that we'll get him."

With that, Dash left, and Twilight watched her go. She hoped deep down that Dash wouldn't go off and do anything stupid.

* * *

><p>In the empty darkness of the cargo car, there wasn't a single noise. Crates, barrels, boxes and even furniture were stacked up in the barren car, holding food, supplies, water, and other materials. Dust bunnies littered the nooks and crannies, and small, spindly-legged spiders made their homes in the upper corners.<p>

Suddenly, one of the crates moved. The lid slowly slid off and was gently moved to the ground… and James rose from the crate, his eyes darting back and forth. He was alone again.

Stretching, James slowly moved out of the crate and approached the door to the train. He was close to the train's caboose, which meant that he would be far from the inside of the station. However, he couldn't take any risks. Sneaking to the caboose of the train, James slipped off the train and got a breath of fresh night air. Fireflies blinked in and out all over the place, lighting up even the Everfree nearby with a ghostly yellow glow and giving it an eerie, haunting beauty.

Leaning off the left side of the train and looking either way, James was content in seeing nobody nearby. With one last glance at his provisions to make sure that he had everything he needed, James took off into the forest.


End file.
